Will she be stoned, executed or set free?
Though the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London issued a news release Thursday announcing that the regime would not stone to death an Iranian woman accused of adultery, it did not clarify what fate awaited her.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been in a Tabriz prison since 2006. It is speculated that she may still face a similarly gruesome death penalty sentence of hanging or beheading.
Her lawyer, Mohammad Mostafai, aid in an interview that he will approach the judiciary on Monday to inquire about his client’s fate.
Though she was a widow at the time, Ashtiani has already received a public flogging of 99 lashes for an “illicit relationship” outside marriage. With murky evidence, the judge convicted her of adultery during her husband’s lifetime as well in May 2006.
Though she retracted what her defenders say was a forced confession made during interrogation, she was still found guilty of “adultery while being married.” Iranian law stipulates that three out of five judges can convict based on “knowledge of the judge,” without significant evidence, reported Amnesty International.
