News

A former cellmate of a woman sentenced to death by stoning in Iran, who spent two years in prison with her and accompanied her to the court when she received the news of her punishment, has told the Guardian how the woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, fainted in shock after hearing the verdict.

"It was in mid-November 2008 when the guards woke us up unexpectedly and told Sakineh and me that we should get ready for the court," said Shahnaz Gholami, 42, whose political activities in support of Azari minorities put her in jail for more than four years in Iran. Gholami, an active blogger, is seeking asylum in Paris.