Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, is held on death row in Tabriz Prison, north-west Iran. Following international protests, the Iranian embassy in London announced that she would not be stoned to death but Sakineh remains at risk of execution.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally, regardless of the method of execution. Please join us in urging the Iranian authorities not to execute Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani by any method.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted in May 2006 of having an 'illicit relationship' with two men and received 99 lashes as her sentence. Despite this, she was then also convicted of 'adultery while being married', a charge she denies, and sentenced to death by stoning.

Following an international outcry against her sentence, the Iranian Embassy in London stated on 8 July 2010 that, "Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani would not be executed by stoning", but made no mention of other possible means of execution.

On 10 July, the head of Iran's High Council for Human Rights said that Sakineh's case would be reviewed, although he affirmed that Iranian law permits execution by stoning. On 11 July, the head of the provincial judiciary in East Azerbaijan, Malek Ezhder Sharifi, said that the stoning sentence was still in place and could be implemented at any time by decision of the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani.

Malek Ezhder Sharifi also said that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani had been sentenced to death in connection with the murder of her husband but this has been disputed by one of her lawyers, who says that she was pardoned by the dead man's family but was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment as an 'accessory' to the crime.

On 14 July Sajjad Qaderzadeh, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's son, was summoned to Tabriz's Central Prison, and is believed to have been questioned by Ministry of Intelligence officials. There is a possibility that they threatened him not to give further interviews about his mother's case.

Background

During her trial, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani retracted a 'confession' that she had made during her pre-trial interrogation. Sakineh alleged that she had been forced to make the 'confession' under duress, and denied the charge of adultery. Two of the five judges found her not guilty, noting that she had already been flogged and adding that they did not find the necessary proof of adultery in the case against her. However, the three other judges - including the presiding judge - found her guilty on the basis of 'the knowledge of the judge', a provision in Iranian law that allows judges to make their own subjective, and possibly arbitrary, determination whether an accused person is guilty even in the absence of clear or conclusive evidence. Having been convicted by a majority of the five judges, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was sentenced to death by stoning.

In Iran, stoning to death is prescribed as the mode of execution for those convicted of committing the offence of "adultery while being married". In 2002, the Head of the Judiciary instructed judges to impose a moratorium on stonings. Despite this, at least five men and one woman have been stoned to death since 2002. In January 2009, the Spokesperson for the Judiciary, Ali Reza Jamshidi, confirmed that two executions by stoning had been carried out in December 2008 and said that the directive on the moratorium had no legal weight and that judges could therefore ignore it.

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