Following international outrage a woman convicted of adultery has been spared execution by stoning in Iran. However, it was unclear what will now happen to Ms Ashtiani, a mother of two – as she may still be executed by other means such as hanging. The Iranian embassy issued a guarded statement on 8 July 2010 that Ms Ashtiani ‘will not be executed by stoning’. The punishment has been written into the country's penal code since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
In May 2006 Ms Ashtiani was sentenced to 99 lashes after being convicted of having an ‘illicit relationship’ with two men. Later that year Ms Ashtiani was accused of murdering her husband. Those charges were dropped, but the inquiry into adultery charges was re-opened, and Ms Ashtiani was convicted, despite a lack of evidence.
Ms Ashtiani’s son, Mr Ghadarzade, who lives in Tabriz, said that the family had travelled six times to Tehran to petition Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad and written hundreds of letters, but was yet to receive a reply.
Stoning as a punishment for those convicted of adultery still exists on the law books in Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.
Andrea Minichiello Williams commented: “We welcome the news that Ms Ashtiani will not be stoned following international pressure. This case reflects the extraordinary and barbaric treatment of women under many legal systems based on sharia law. We must resist every attempt from those who wish to implement sharia law into our own nation and pray that such attempts will not be successful.”