Ten Iranians Facing Death by Stoning
Seven women and three men are sentenced to death for adultery
Everyone has a date marked on their calendar, be it a birthday, wedding anniversary or even the beginning of the summer vacations. In Iran, there are about 170 people who cross out one day each night .The date they can not forget is their execution. However, this daily nightmare is even worse for the group of individuals who are waiting for the decision to see if their lives will end slowly with stones thrown at their heads. Despite the cruelty, ten people are waiting in İranian jails to be stoned.
“It is barbaric. Men are buried up to their waists and women up to the chest, their injuries and death are too cruel ” explains, Hadi Ghaemi executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) to La Razon. “We have asked for this practice to disappear, and the Iranian parliament last year sponsored a law to abolish it and yet there are three men and seven women in danger of being stoned.”
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43 years old Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for an alleged adultery. Thanks to her children an of numerous human rights organizations, the case came to light and for now it seems that she will not die by stoning. “Families often feel ashamed for adultery sentences and do not defend their relatives,” says Alice Jay, executive director of the Iranian anti stoning campaign Avaaz.org.
370,000 signatures
After advocating the cause of Ashtiani, Avaaz have now decided to support the ten people who also are sentenced to death. “The global protest has caused Ashtiani not to die by stoning and we hope that many people will raise their voice against this shocking practice and make the Iranian regime and its judges stop sentencing people to this atrocity. At the time of going to press more than 370,000 people had signed the new petition.
In the same jail with Ashtiani in Tabriz there are two other women who could face execution. They are Azar Baghri and Maryam Ghobaranzadeh. According to sources from the blog “FromPersian2English,” Azar was forced to marry at 14 years of age to a man much older than her. The following year she was accused of having an extramarital affair. Azar has lived the last four years in constant fear of being stoned.
In fact, she has already been subjected to two mock stoning. The prison authorities have buried her and threatened to take her life if she did not cooperate. Maryam is also afraid. She is 25 years old and pregnant. Her lawyers hope to change the sentence of stoning to death by hanging. Her dream? That it will be commuted to a 100 lashes.
“Adultery in Iran is sentenced with stoning,” confirms Ghaemi. “However, in the last three years it has been done in secret. We have information that five people have died by stoning. It is the judges and the members of the Iranian government that throws stones until they die. ”
In the courtyard of the condemned.
– Azar Baghri, 19 years old. Imprisoned in Tabriz.
– Maryam Ghorbanzadeh 25 years old. Imprisoned in Tabriz as well.
– Sorimeh Ebadi, 31 years old. Serving a sentence in Uromieh.
– Iran Eskandari, 31 years old. Mother of a son,waiting to be executed in Ahvaz.
– Kheirieh Valania, 42 years old. Also in Ahvaz.
– Ashraf Kohori, 41 years old. Serving a sentence in Evin prison in Tehran.
– Kobra Babai, mother of a child. Serving a sentence in Tabriz.
– Sayed NaghiAhmadi. One of the three men sentenced in Tabriz.
– Buali Janfeshani, 22 years old. Serving a sentence in Uromieh.
– Ali Navid Khamami, imprisoned in Rasht.
