Women Face Stoning Death In Iran
Posted on July 22, 2008
Filed Under International, Justice, Politics, Women | Comments Off on Women Face Stoning Death In Iran
At least eight women and one man are reported to have been sentenced to death by stoning in Iran.
The group, convicted of adultery and sex offences, could be executed at any time, lawyers defending them say.
The lawyers have called on the head of Iran’s judiciary to prevent the sentences from being carried out.
The last officially reported stoning in Iran last year drew strong criticism from human rights groups and the European Union.
The eight women sentenced, whose ages range from 27 to 43, had convictions including prostitution, incest and adultery, Reuters news agency reported.
One woman, Kobra Najar, an ethnic Kurd, is said to have been condemned after being forced by her husband into prostitution. After she divorced him, he forced their daughter to sell her body.
Another defendant, Shamame Qorbani, claims she was raped but that the allegation was not investigated.
The man, a 50-year-old music teacher, was convicted of illegal sex with a student, reports said.
In theory the penalty of stoning to death applies to both men and women.
But the lawyers say that in practice, many more women than men receive the sentence because they are less well educated and often poorly represented in court.
Human rights group Amnesty International earlier this year called on Iran to abolish “this grotesque punishment” and said many facing execution by stoning were sentenced after unfair trials.
Under Iran’s strict penal code, men convicted of adultery should be buried up to their waists and women up to their chests for stoning. The stones used should not be large enough to kill the person immediately.
