Iranian Woman Facing Execution For Alleged Adultery, Given 99 Lashes Over Photo That Wasn't Her

The Iranian government is hell-bent on making 43-year-old widow, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, suffer. Big time. Falsely accused of adultery, she was sentenced to be stoned to death. Yes, in this day and age stoning still exists in countries like Iran, which could be considered civilized were it not for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the ruling mullahs. Her sentence was commuted from stoning to possible death by hanging, only after global outrage. The world is still trying to save Ashtiani, with everyone including the Pope piping in on the savagery of executing a woman for unproven, alleged adultery. But knowing the bloodthirsty Iranian authorities, they will eventually get their pound of flesh. Like playground bullies they have just dug in their heels and are doing their best to make Ashtiani miserable. They have subjected her to everything from a mock hanging after she was forced and coerced in to making a confession on TV claiming she was in cahoots with her husband's murderer, and did indeed have an affair with him, this committing adultery. Not surprisingly, the face of the woman on the TV was blurred out, so no-one could definitively identify her. Obviously an outright fabrication to make them not appear to be the animals that they are.

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And now, the poor woman received 99 lashes for something she wasn't even culpable of. A photograph of another woman, hijab-less and wearing pink lipstick, was published in The Times of London on August 28, and falsely attributed to Ashtiani. So she suffered the consequences of that mistake. According to her current lawyer, Javid Kian, (her previous one had to flee the country for his safety) witnesses told him that she was flogged for indecency at Tabriz Prison, in northern Iran, after the picture was published.

Attached to a commentary in The Times Of London, was the picture of a woman with earrings and the caption “Revealed: true face of the woman Iran wants to stone.” Problem is, it was actually a photo of an exile in Sweden, Susan Hejrat, who I am sure is grateful to be living in freedom. The Times took five days to apologize blaming it on everyone from journalists to her previous lawyer Mohammed Mostafaei and her 22-year-old son Sajad Ghaderzadeh, who has been doing a masterful job at galvanizing the world to help prevent the execution of his mother. Sajad denies being responsible for emailing the wrong photo and blamed the Mostafaei. Mostafaei blames Sajad and also claims Ashtiani was not beaten. Who knows what the truth is regarding the mistaken photo, but I'm sure the beatings took place.

Hejrat feels terrible about the mix-up, and her lawyer hits it right on the nose regarding the reason they are terrorizing Ashtiani:

Mrs. Hejrat, 48, interviewed by telephone at her home in Sweden, confirmed that the photograph was of her. She said that she had used it with articles she had written about Ms. Ashtiani as a campaigner for women’s rights in Iran. “It could have been mixed up in e-mail,” she said, adding, “I am very upset that she got another punishment because the Iranian government saw a picture of me.”

Iranian authorities are using the image, Mr. Kian said, as “an excuse to put pressure on her and those around her.” He said that after her statement about her husband’s murder, Ms. Ashtiani had been subjected to a mock hanging. The lashing sentence was intended to “impact her family and journalists who may report about her case,” he added. “It is to spread fear so they don’t talk, and to keep the family’s mouths shut.”

Simon Pearson, an Times of London editor said this of the whole lashing scandal:

“... if what we’re hearing is correct, you’d have to draw the conclusion that they are sending a message to the Western media that Ashtiani will suffer if we cover her story.”

Shame on Iran for its major human rights violations, not that the ruling elite care what the world thinks.