‘Stoning to death’ the most cruel death penalty in Iran
The following report shows that unfortunately in 21 century the most cruel death penalty still exist in our country Iran.
For most of Europeans and Americans it is unbelievable but unfortunately under the rule of anti-human mullahs ‘stoning to death’ still exists.
During the last ten years at least 12 women and several men have been executed in this manner.
By the report of human rights organizations about 50 other are in death row awaiting their death by stoning to death.
Pressure of public opinion saved Ashtiani this week from being killed in such a cruel manner. But would this rescue the others who are being stoned to death non-publicly or those who will be killed in such a way in the future by this anti-human regime?
The following especial report tells about the issue of ‘stoning to death’ and how innocent people are condemned to it without having any lawyer or passing any judicial process.
We have provided this report so that we can enlighten the world and get its help to put more international pressure on the regime so that we might be able to rescue a nation from under the rule of the mullahs.
These mullahs are ready to commit any brutal crime and suppression to be able to stay in power even one more day!
The Report:
3 men and 11 women await stoning in Iran
Since stoning is very inappropriate, is incompatible with the culture of the Iranian people and global and Iranian public opinion seriously oppose it, the judiciary is very confidential on this matter and stonings are carried out in cemeteries or desolate locations in secret. Sometimes the body of the stoned person is not returned to his/her family. The word ‘stoning’ is even banned in Iranian media.
The government’s solution for stoning in Iran is to carry it out in secret and quietly. The new orders are that if we face pressure from public opinion for stoning, hang them instead!...
There are fears that those who are sentenced to stoning will either be hastily stoned in secret or will be hanged due to the current international pressure so the cases can be closed and the fuss would die down. Because until the time that a person sentenced to stoning is alive and in prison, there will be rigorous widespread efforts for saving that person. Therefore there are fears that the Islamic Republic would eliminate all those sentenced to stoning by either stoning or hanging to close their cases and show that it is independent and does not care about the west’s reaction…
A complete list those who are currently in prison on charges of adultery – which means people who have had a sexual relationship with someone other than their spouse - is as follows:
Tabriz
- Kobra Babayi – mother of a 13 year old daughter. Lawyer: Mohammad Mostafayi
Her husband, Rahim Mohammadi, was executed on charges of adultery in 2009
- Sakineh Mohammad Ashtiani – 43, mother of 19 year old Farideh and 22 year old Sajad. Lawyer: Mohammad Mostafayi
She was sentenced to 99 lashes which was carried out. She was once again sentenced for the same crime to death by stoning. Her children wrote a letter addressing the people of the world and asked for help in saving their mother.
- Azar Baqeri – 19 years old. Has a lawyer
She was jailed when she was 15 because her husband filed a complaint against her and has been sentenced to stoning.
- Maryam Qorbanzadeh – 25 years old – has a lawyer
Orumieh
- Sarimeh Ebadi (or Sarimeh Sajadi) – 31 years old, mother of two children. Lawyer: unknown
- Bu-Ali Janfeshani – 33 years old. Has one child. Lawyer: unknown
This man and woman (Ebadi and Janfeshani) have been sentenced to stoning by the Orumieh Public Court in a mutual case. Their stoning sentence was upheld by the 12th branch of the Western Azarbaijan Court of Review on January 6, 2010 and they are currently in the Central Orumieh Prison.
Ahwaz
- Iran Eskandari – 31 years old. Has a 13 year old son. Lawyer: Unknown
Iran is from the Bakhtiari Tribe who was forcefully married to her cousin. Her husband only came home about once a month. She became friends with her next door neighbor’s son and wrote letters and talked on the phone with him. One day while they were talking, her husband came in the backyard from the wall of the yard and attacked her, severely beating her. The neighbor’s son came to her aid and killed her husband with a knife. She was sentenced to five years of prison on April 7, 2005 in a court of first instance in Khuzestan for complicity to murder and to stoning for adultery. Her sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court on April 8, 2006. In light of the culture in the region, if Iran is released from prison, there is a high chance that she would be murdered by the men in her family.
- Kheirieh Valania, 42 years old. Has several children. Lawyer: unknown
She was sentenced because she confessed to adultery four times. She says that she is the victim of domestic violence and had a relationship with a man who murdered her husband but was not involved in his murder. She was charged with complicity to murder. The third branch of the Behbahan Public Court sentenced Kheirieh to stoning on charges of adultery on May 9, 2002. “I am willing to be hanged but not stoned. They suffocate you and then you die. But it is very hard to be constantly hit on the head with stones”, she says. She is sure that if she is released, she would have no place to go and her brothers would kill her.
Tehran
- Ashraf Kalhori- 41 years old. Lawyer: unknown
Her stoning sentence was halted on orders of Shahroudi, the previous head of the Judiciary and she is still in Evin Prison. Her lawyer used to be Shadi Sadr who is currently not in Iran.
- Fatemeh, age: unknown. Lawyer: unknown
Fatemeh was tried in the 71st branch of the Tehran Penal Court and was sentenced to retribution (execution) and stoning for complicity in murder and an illicit relationship. Her husband Fatemeh had a fight with Mahmoud, a man who was after Fatemeh and had entered their home, and killed him with his wife’s help.
Asghar, her husband was sentenced to 16 years of prison on charges of assisting in intentional murder.
Mashhad
- A woman identified as M.Kh. age: unknown. Lawyer: unknown
- A woman whose last name is Hashemi Nasab. Age: unknown. Lawyer: unknown
These two women are in the Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad
Rasht
- Mohammad Ali Navid Khamami – Father’s name: Safar. Lawyer: unknown
He was sentenced to stoning on June 2008.
Sari
- Seyed Naqi Ahmadi. Age: unknown. Lawyer: Ibrahim Mohammadzadeh
On June 10, 2008, three of the five judges in the second branch of the Mazandaran Penal Court sentenced Seyed Naqi Ahmadi to stoning. Ahmadi was charged with adultery with Pouran Q. It has been stated in court that Ahmadi who lived next to Pouran entered her home at night while her husband was away on business in Semnan and had a sexual relationship with her. Some of the reasons that they were charged was: 1. A report from the ‘Prohibiting Vice and Promoting Virtue Departmnet’ 2. Pouran’s confession 3. Seyed Naqi Ahmadi’s confession.
In other words, the only proof of the adultery charge was their confession and in the end, the court sentenced Seyed Naqi Ahmadi to stoning in light of the ‘knowledge of the judge’ and Pouran was cleared of this charge because her husband was not home and she did not have access to him. Two of the judges in this branch believed that both suspects should be acquitted. This sentence was upheld by the 33rd branch of the Supreme Court.
Reason behind Convictions: Knowledge of the Judge
It is worth mentioning that in the case of all these people, there is no evidence to prove the so-called ‘adultery’ charge and the reason most of them were convicted was because of the ‘knowledge of the judge’. This means that despite the fact that there is no evidence or witness to prove the crime (there has to be at least four witnesses to prove adultery) the judge decides based on his ‘knowledge’ that the person has committed adultery. The interesting point is that in Iranian courts, a judge cannot decide based on his knowledge if someone has overdrawn from his bank account and jail him/her but can decide that he/she has committed adultery and sentence him/her to stoning.
In some cases, the person has been forced to confess under duress and has only to confess four times to adultery instead of four witnesses and say that he/she has committed adultery to be sentenced to stoning. This means that security forces and judicial authorities force the person to confess to adultery using various methods.
Lawyer?
In light of the fact that mostly all of those sentenced to stoning are from deprived social classes, most of them have been deprived of lawyers in the initial stages of their case and therefore accept the charge of adultery without knowledge of the consequences of their confession to be relieved of the pressure on them by authorities without knowing that the final consequence is stoning. Since, according to Iranian law, people who are sentenced to death or stoning have to have lawyers, those who are sentenced to stoning are given appointed lawyers and unfortunately most of them are not able to suitably defend their clients because of their inexperience or because the case is not important for them.
List of people who have been stoned in the past years
The judicial system of the Islamic Republic does not recognize monitoring rights on its actions by its citizens. Therefore, the number and names of those who were sentenced to stoning after their sentences were upheld by the Supreme is unknown.
But the names of those who we are aware were stoned from 2006 up to now is as follows:
Mashhad
- Mahboubeh Mohammadi. According to reports she had confessed to adultery after threats and torture and was stoned to death along with Abbas Haji Zadeh on May 2006.
- Abbas Haji Zadeh was stoned to death on May 2006 in Mashhad.
- Three men were stoned to death in December 21, 2008 in the Behesht Reza Cemetery in Mashhad. One of them, identified as Mahmoud who was an Afghan national, was able to escape from the ditch he was buried in while severely wounded. Houshang Khadadeh and another unknown person were stoned.
Qazvin
- Jafar Kiani whose stoning was halted by the head of the judiciary because of a campaign against stoning was stoned in the Akhcheh Village near Takestan in Qazvin on June 2007 on orders of a local judge.
Rasht
- Vali Azad, from Pars Abad in Maghan was stoned in secret in Rasht on March 5, 2009 on charges of adultery. His body was not handed over to his family. His stoning sentence was issued and carried out by Judge Hojatelislam Kashani in the 11th branch of the Penal Court and Judge Javid Nia, the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor. But the woman who was also charged with him was granted amnesty. The stoning of Vali Azad was officially confirmed by the former spokesman of the Judiciary, Alireza Jamshidi.
List of those who were hanged instead of being stoned
It has to be reminded that the names and numbers of those who were hanged in the place of being stoned to death are not known and the following list shows that our knowledge is only limited to the below mentioned names:
Sari
- Abdollah Farivar, 53 years old. This music teacher was executed on February 19, 2008
Shiraz
- Afsaneh Rahmani- Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz. Was hanged in 2009
Tabriz
- Rahim Mohammadi- husband of Kobra Babayi. Was hanged on September 2009
Tehran
- According to unconfirmed reports, a woman was hanged in 2008 in a closed off room in Evin Prison on charges of adultery. (Rooz website – July 11, 2010)
Students Committee in Iran (Supporters of PMOI)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Iran-Students-Committee/222864894745?ref=ts
Iranstudentscommittee.blospot.com
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