Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani: an adulterer all by herself

Monday, July 12, 2010

In this morning's paper was a small article about a woman in Iran who was convicted of adultery with 2 men and condemned to death by stoning. In reading this, a couple of things came to mind: the brutality of this form of execution and is adultery a crime worthy of death? However, there was one small point of which the article made no mention and which piqued my curiosity. This woman has been condemned to be executed for adultery; what about the men? It takes two to tango; this woman can't become an adulterer all by herself.

Apparently, this woman was first convicted of an illicit relationship with 2 men that took place after the death of her husband. For this, she received 99 lashes. Her case came up again when another court was prosecuting one of the 2 men for his involvement in the death of the woman's husband. The woman was acquitted of involvement in the death of her husband but was subsequently convicted of adultery while still married.

I have consulted at least a half a dozen news sources but no where do I find any mention of the men. The woman is condemned to die for adultery but not the men. Yes, the one man was on trial for the murder of the husband but neither of the men was on trial for adultery.

Right now, this woman's fate is up in the air. She has spent the past 6 years in jail while international pressure against her stoning has been growing. This issue is proving to be something of an embarrassment for the government considering the outcry against her execution and officials are holding off doing anything which in itself translates into bowing to this criticism. Nevertheless, there still is the risk Iran may thumb its nose at the world and carry out the sentence even if stoning is not the method of execution.

I must return to this one small point: the men are not in trouble for their participation in the adultery.



References

Wikipedia: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakineh_Mohammadi_Ashtiani

Wikipedia: Stoning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning

Facebook: Save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Sakineh-Mohammadi-Ashtiani-from-being-Stoned-to-Death-in-Iran/123908540984923

Google Search: " Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani"
http://www.google.ca/#num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22sakineh+mohammadi+ashtiani%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=ff6f35003432d731

2010-07-12