Sakineh Ashtiani sentenced to execution by hanging

Teheran - The attorney general of Iran announced Monday that Sakineh Ashtiani Mohamadi, the Iranian woman accused of adultery and complicity in the murder of her husband, has been sentenced to death for the second crime and will die by hanging.

According to a report released Monday by Iranian Mehr News Agency, the Prosecutor General of Iran, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i said: "According to the court's decision she has been found guilty of murder and the penalty for this crime takes precedence over the previous charge of adultery." The court's decision prevents the woman from being stoned to death, but not from dying, since murder in Iran is punishable by hanging. "The question should not be politicized. The Iranian judiciary system cannot be influenced by the propaganda campaign waged in the West," Mohseni-Eje'i added. Several months ago the accused, Sakineh Ashtiani Mohamadi, 43, had been convicted of adultery and sentenced to execution by stoning. The sentence sparked a wave of international criticism and protests, forcing the Iran regime to suspend the sentence and state that it would be reviewed. Reports have indicated that a woman identified as Ashtiani, confessed on Iranian State TV a few days ago of having had a relationship with a man outside marriage and having participated in the death of her husband. The Iranian regime also accused last week Ashtiani’s lawyer of having used the trial, which triggered worldwide interest, for his own benefit by applying for political asylum in Norway, where he is now with his family. "The lawyer tried to politicize the case when he said that his life was in danger because he was defending a woman, but his arguments only go after his personal interests," said Ramin Mehmanparast, Iranian Minister of Foreign Relations, is his weekly press conference. Last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated that in Iran there is no death sentence, but then compared Ashtiani’s case with that of Teresa Lewis, the woman who was executed last Thursday in Virginia, United States, for a similar offense. Iran, the United States, China and Saudi Arabia are the countries where most capital punishments are applied.

SSZ

Roads heading towards downtown Tehran, Iran. The Alborz Mountains can be seen in the background.

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