Islamabad, Afganistan
Dec. 14, 2010
Celebrities including Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, and Sting have called on Iran to release a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. In an open letter published Monday, more than 80 performers and academics said that "Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has suffered enough."
Ashtiani, 43, was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband the year before and was sentenced at that time to 99 lashes. She was later convicted of adultery and sentenced to be stoned.
It was not made clear whether the adultery occurred with each man individually or whether it was part of a threesome.
In separate trials each of the men was sentenced to read selected passages from the Koran for 10 days. The mens' attorneys have said they plan to appeal the sentences as being excessively harsh under sharia law. "Three to five days of Koran reading is the usual punishment for male adultery. "The court is trying to make an example of these men because of the publicity surrounding the case," according to one of the lawyers, who filed a petition with the court to overturn the verdict and sentence for his client.
The photo is of Ms. Ashtiani, during a fitting for her stoning, whenever it is scheduled.
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