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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran rejects Brazil asylum for stoning woman |
| 2010-08-04 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Iran on Tuesday rejected an offer by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to give asylum to an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for having an extra-marital relationship. The sentence imposed on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who denies the charges against her, has angered rights groups and caused an international outcry. It has been suspended pending a review by Iran's judiciary, but could still be carried out. Lula called on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week to let Brazil give refuge to Mohammadi Ashtiani, but the Islamic Republic rebuffed the offer. "From what we know about Mr. da Silva, he has a humane and sensitive character and probably he has not been provided with enough information," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference. "What can be done here is to let him know about the details of the case of this person who has committed a crime so that he understands the case," he added. Iran and Brazil have drawn closer this year after Brazil and Turkey brokered a proposed compromise deal on Iran's uranium enrichment work, which the West fears is a cover for developing a nuclear bomb. Tehran rejects the accusation, saying it only wants to generate electricity. A humanitarian gesture At a summit in Argentina, Lula reiterated his opposition to U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran and said he had offered asylum to the woman as a humanitarian gesture. "For me, death by stoning is so barbaric that I said Brazil would receive this woman with open arms," he told a news conference. "My appeal was more humanitarian than political." Washington urged Iran on Monday to accept Lula's offer. "If Brazil is willing to accept... this woman, we would hope that Iran would consider that as a humanitarian gesture," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "And the fact that Brazil has stepped up and indicated a willingness to resolve it, we hope Iran will listen." Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, enforced since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Human rights group Amnesty International has said Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men and received 99 lashes as her sentence. The rights group said that, despite this, she was subsequently convicted of "adultery while being married", which it said she denied, and was sentenced to death by stoning. Amnesty has listed Iran as the world's second most prolific executioner in 2008 after China, and says it put to death at least 346 people in 2008. The Iranian authorities routinely dismiss charges of rights abuses, saying they are following Islamic sharia. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 The rights group said that, despite this, she was subsequently convicted of "adultery while being married", which it said she denied, and was sentenced to death by stoning. The woman was supposedly complicit in the murder of her husband, too. I don't know the circumstances, but perhaps she does deserve the death penalty. And maybe it's hogwash. And maybe he deserved it. And maybe it didn't happen. If Brazil were to accept her, it would probably behoove them to look into the veracity of and circumstances surrounding her husband's death, and perhaps offer to put her in prison for life there. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-08-04 12:27 |
| #2 Iran's got to feed the religion with blood. It is a thirsty religion. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-08-04 09:48 |
| #1 Using diplomats, the way to deal with this is to be very clear that everyone involved is committing an *international* crime, and with a change in the political winds in Iran, they could, and will, likely find themselves in the dock. And that the international community is keeping records of who is responsible. And, given such a hideous and obscene method of tortuous murder, Iranian leaders could spend the rest of their lives in prison. Most certainly, any chance of their leaving Iran in haste, to retire in another country, would no longer be possible. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-08-04 08:50 |