Iran harasses the lawyer of the woman sentenced to stoning

His spouse and brother in law detained

Mohamad Mostafaei, the Iranian lawyer of Sakineh Ashtiani who is sentenced to death by stoning, has been in an undisclosed location since Saturday. He was questioned and later the same day was summoned to the infamous Evin prison, but he did not attend. According to a statement from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, his wife and his brother in law were arrested on that same day, which “it could interpreted as a way to exert pressure to turn himself in.”

Mostafaei, human rights lawyer, has defended 13 people who were sentenced to death by stoning in Iran, 10 of which are now free. The case of Sakineh Ashtiani, who confessed to having committed adultery after receiving 99 lashes, received international attention in early July, after Mostafaei revealed some of the irregularities of the juidicial process on his blog. So far, even though the sentence is upheld, has not been carried out.

A campaign spokesman Hadi Ghaemi maintains that “working to prevent the stoning of his client, Mostafaei has not broken any law.” The organization also demands the immediate release of lawyer’s wife, Feresteh Halimi, and his brother in law, Farhad Halimi. Neither of them has worked with him in human rights, the statement said. Ghaemi, in fact, considers them ” essentially hostages”.

The president of the International Committee Against Execution and Stoning, Mina Ahadi, reported that two relatives of Mostafaei are in Evin prison and have not had access to a lawyer. Also according to Ahadi, Iranian authorities contacted their father on Monday to tell him that his children would be freed in exchange for Mohamad Mostafaei.