BREAKING NEWS

Iran woman with stoning sentence shown on state TV

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

NOVEMBER 16, 2010 14:35

TEHERAN, Iran — Iranian state television has broadcast a purported statement by an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in which she calls herself a "sinner."

The stoning sentence against the 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been put on hold and is now being reviewed by Iran's supreme court, but she still faces a possible death sentence by other means.

The outcry over the case is one of the latest thorns in Iran's relationship with the international community, as the US, EU and international human rights groups have urged Tehran to stay the execution.

A woman identified as Ashtiani said in the state TV report shown Monday: "I am a sinner." Her face was blurred and her words were voiced over in what the TV report said was a translation into Farsi from Azeri Turkish, which is spoken in parts of Iran.

The report also broadcast purported statements by two men whose faces were blurred that state TV identified as Ashtiani's son, Sajjad Qaderzadeh, and her lawyer, Houtan Kian, both of whom were arrested last month. It also aired comments from two Germans who were detained allegedly while trying to interview Ashtiani's family in October.

Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband the year before and was sentenced at that time to 99 lashes. Later that year, she was also convicted of adultery and sentenced to be stoned, even though she retracted a confession that she says was made under duress. Ashtiani has also been convicted of involvement in the death of her husband, whom Iranian prosecutors say was murdered. She could still face execution by hanging in the two cases.

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