It has taken four years, but better late than never.
The Italian press released a statement today than an Iranian agency which belongs to an important conservative opponent of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad openly criticized the sentencing to death of Sakineh Ashtiani-Mohammadi by stoning, attributing the sentencing to the ignorance of the judges. The article appeared on agency Alef, a website belonging to a congressman and former presidential candidate, Ahmad Tavakkoli.
It is the first sign of protest against the judgment to appear on an Iranian information site.
In the meantime, more official protests have taken place. According to Europe 1, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland called on Tehran to commute the death sentence against Ashtiani-Mohammadi.
'We have been closely following Mrs. Mohammadi-Ashtiani's case, who faced execution by stoning for adultery, and who could now by executed by hanging; these two sentences are clearly unacceptable (...) We call on the Iranian authorities to commute her sentence'.
The document was signed by foreign ministers Carl Bildt (Sweden), Jonas Gahr Store (Norway), Alexander Stubb (Finland), Lene Esperen (Denmark), et Össur Skarphedinsson (Iceland).
Earlier in the week, Amnesty International called for the release of Ashtiani's lawyer and son, indicating that they have been seized solely for the purpose of their willingness to release pertinent information.
A spokesman for the Iranian legal system confirmed that the lawyer had been arrested on October 10, 2010 and that there was an inquiry in progress on his ties to 'counter-revolutionary groups based overseas'.
Comments
Aimee: I think you are wonderful, and receive your posts via email. You are extraordinary journalists, and one with a heart and a respect for justice. I am a conservative Christian Republican. Learned my right-wing stripes at the knee of Jesse Helms, who hired me at WRAL-TV 5 back in 1966. Worked in his successful 1982-84 re-election campaign. I'd like to correspond with you. I wrote for Examiner in conservative politics for awhile, but now write for Carolina Talk Network, a conservative multi-media company based in Wilmington, NC. Here's my link: http://carolinatalknetwork.com/category/opinion-editorial/verne-strickla... . Hope you'll stop in sometime. My email is vernestrickland@aol.com. Best regards always, Verne Strickland, Wilmington, NC.
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