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Lawyer's hope over Iranian stoning 'confession'

By Channel 4 News

Updated on 12 August 2010

The lawyer representing an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning tells Channel 4 News her apparent confession on state television could mean she will escape execution.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been sentenced to death for 'adultery' (Credit: Getty)

Mohammad Mostafaei, who has fled Iran and is now seeking asylum in Norway, said it was possible the Iranian authorities had made a promise to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani that they failed to keep.

Her case has caused outrage around the world. Last month, the Iranian regime suspended her death by stoning sentence, but she could still be hanged.

In her interview, Ms Ashtiani allegedly confessed to involvement in her husband's murder and adultery.

Her face was blurred and her words translated from her local dialect into Farsi, making it impossible to authenticate what she is reported to have said.

She apparently talked about striking up a relationship with her husband's cousin, saying: "He told me: 'Let's kill your husband'. I totally could not believe that my husband would be killed. I thought he was joking.

"Later, I found out that killing was his profession. He came (to our house) and brought all the stuff. He brought electrical devices, plus wire and gloves. Later, he killed my husband by connecting him to the electricity."

The head of the judiciary in Iran's East Azerbaijan province told the television programme that Ms Ashtiani had injected an anaesthetic into her husband.

"After the husband went unconscious, the real murderer killed the victim by connecting electricity to his neck," he said.

Ms Ashtiani's case has been publicised by Mr Mostafaei.

In her interview, the 43-year-old mother-of-two is reported to have criticised him, saying:  "Why did you publicise my case? Why did you harm my reputation and dignity?

"Not all of my relatives and family members knew that I am prison. Why did you do this to me?"

But Mr Mostafaei told Channel 4 News: "One scenario is you confess and it saves you from death and therefore I have no problem what she says about me if it can save her. The second is they've promised to help her, but then renege on it. I hope this is not the case."
 
He said that confessions on camera in Iran often heralded "some improvement" in a prisoner's prospects, but there was a chance this might not be the case this time.

Mr Mostafaei pointed out that not only had the confession been made on state television, it had also occurred on a programme run by Iran's intelligence services.

Sakineh 
Mohammadi Ashtiani appears on Iranian state television

The human rights group, Amnesty International, said televised confessions had "repeatedly been used by  the Iranian authorities to incriminate individuals in custody", with many of these confessions later retracted because people had been coerced into making them, "sometimes under torture or other ill-treatment".

Amnesty's Middle East deputy director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, said: "This so-called confession forms part of a growing catalogue of other forced confessions and self-incriminating statements made by many detainees in the past year.

"Statements made in such televised exchanges should have no bearing on Iran's legal system, or the call to review her case. This latest video shows nothing more than the lack of evidence against Sakineh Ashtiani."

Amnesty said it understood that a response to a request for a judicial review of Ms Ashtiani's case was expected in the next few days. Unconfirmed reports that she had been tortured or ill-treated in Tabriz Central Prison underlined why it was concerned.

Ms Sahraoui added: "It appears that Iran's authorities have orchestrated this 'confession', following the call for a judicial review and now appear to be inventing new charges of murdering her husband.

"Having Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani broadcast in this manner calls into question the independence of the judiciary, at least vis-a-vis the state broadcaster, and its ability to adhere to Iran's own laws. If the judiciary in Iran is to be taken seriously, this 'confession' needs to be disregarded and assurances given that it will not affect the review of her case."

Ms Ashtiani has received 99 lashes for allegedly having an illicit relationship with two men. Maziar Bahari, a journalist and former Iranian prisoner, told Channel 4 News that the Iranian authorities: "May have beaten her, they may have slapped her, punched her, flogged her in order to teach her a lesson. And then they go through a scenario with her – they tell her exactly what to do."

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law.

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