Iranian woman still faces stoning

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's sentence has not been lifted.

The lawyer for an Iranian woman sentenced to be stoned on an adultery conviction said Monday that he and her children are worried the delayed execution could be carried out soon with the end of a moratorium on death sentences for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In an unusual turn in the case, the lawyer also confirmed that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was lashed 99 times last week in a separate punishment meted out because a British newspaper ran a picture of an unveiled woman mistakenly identified as her. Under Iran's clerical rule, women must cover their hair in public. The newspaper later apologized for the error.

With the end of Ramadan this week, the mother of two could be executed "any moment," said her lawyer, Javid Houtan Kian.

Please call the White House (comments: 202-456-1111; switchboard: 202-456-1414) and tell President Obama to please intervene on Ashtiani's behalf.

Woman faces execution by stoning

After a coerced confession that involved her receiving 99 lashes in front of her son.

A veteran Iranian human rights activist has warned that Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, a mother of two, could be stoned to death at any moment under the terms of a death sentence handed down by Iranian authorities.

Only an international campaign designed to pressure the regime in Tehran can save her life, according to Mina Ahadi, head of the International Committee Against Stoning and the Death Penalty.

"Legally it's all over," Ahadi said Sunday. "It's a done deal. Sakineh can be stoned at any minute."

"That is why we have decided to start a very broad, international public movement. Only that can help."

Ashtiani, 42, will be buried up to her chest, according to an Amnesty International report citing the Iranian penal code. The stones that will be hurled at her will be large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill her immediately.

Ashtiani, who is from the northern city of Tabriz, was convicted of adultery in 2006.

She was forced to confess after being subjected to 99 lashes, human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei said Thursday in a telephone interview from Tehran.

She later retracted that confession and has denied wrongdoing. Her conviction was based not on evidence but on the determination of three out of five judges, Mostafaei said. She has asked forgiveness from the court but the judges refused to grant clemency.

Iran's supreme court upheld the conviction in 2007.

Mostafaei believes a language barrier prevented his client from fully comprehending court proceedings. Ashtiani is of Azerbaijani descent and speaks Turkish, not Farsi.

The circumstances of Ashtiani's case make it not an exception but the rule in Iran, according to Amnesty International, which tracks death penalty cases around the world.

"The majority of those sentenced to death by stoning are women, who suffer disproportionately from such punishment," the human rights group said in a 2008 report.

On Wednesday, Amnesty made a new call to the Iranian government to immediately halt all executions and commute all death sentences. The group has recorded 126 executions in Iran from the start of this year to June 6.

The international community has expressed outrage over the case, and Ms. Ashtiani's case will be reviewed this weekend.

The Obama administration has expressed concerns about the execution. Norway has summoned the Iranian ambassador in Oslo to protest. Demonstrations have been held outside Iranian embassies in London and other capitals.

"Is the world so cruel that it can watch this catastrophe and do nothing about it?" Ms Ashtiani's son, Sajad, 22, and daughter, Farideh, 17, asked in an open letter. "We (appeal) to the people of the world, no matter who you are and where you live, to help prevent this nightmare from becoming reality."

Yesterday Iranian officials told Sajad that his mother's case would be reviewed on Sunday, which raised hopes of a reprieve.

Ms Ashtiani was arrested in 2005, convicted the following year of having an illicit relationship and given 99 lashes. Her son had to witness the flogging.

Her case was subsequently reopened on suspicion that she and her alleged partner murdered her husband. She was convicted of adultery on a majority decision and sentenced to death by stoning.

Her sentence was upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court in 2007 and she has twice appealed unsuccessfully for clemency.

Her lawyer, Mohammed Mostafaei, said the sentence was illegal and that her conviction was based only on the opinion of the judges, and that she could not follow the proceedings because she was of Azerbaijani descent and spoke Turkish and not Farsi.

The entire Iranian judicial process is weighted against women. Their testimony is worth only half that of men. Those sentenced to death by stoning are spared if they can drag themselves out of the earth, but while men are buried up to their waist, women are buried up to their chest.

Click here to contact your president and demand that he express more than "concerns" about this case.

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Three villages

Wiped out by landslides triggered by earthquakes.

An official says landslides triggered by an earthquake in western Indonesia obliterated at least three villages this week.

He says as many as 644 people including a wedding party were buried under mountains of mud and debris.

If all 644 are confirmed dead — as is likely — the death toll from Wednesday's quake would jump to more than 1,300. The government's death toll currently is 715.

Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Health Ministry's crisis center, said Saturday that Pulau Aiya, Lubuk Lawe and Jumena villages were completely wiped out by the landslides.

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The jersey under the stadium

Click here to bid on the David Ortiz jersey that was hidden in the concrete under the Stinkins' new stadium. Proceeds benefit the Jimmy Fund, so dig deep and bid often.

Healthcare in America

Where money is valued more than life itself.

[Brittani] was only 15 years old, when she started chemotherapy for Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of childhood cancer that attacks the bones. She lost her hair, had the cancerous bone in her pelvis removed, and then her lungs started to deteriorate.

She lived through her 16th year with an oxygen bottle her closest companion, as her lung function approached a mere 20% of normal capacity.

In May of 2007, she was only 17 years old, when she finally had a double lung transplant, to replace lungs killed by interstices lung disease, brought on by the chemotherapy which saved her from the bone cancer.

When her health insurance is canceled later this year, it will be canceled with the simple explanation that she has reached her "lifetime maximum benefits."

And she has just turned 18...

What can I say? The way we treat our sick is a dark a stain on our nation. This is absolutely shameful. And this is just one of thousands of stories of sick children who have been left for dead by a healthcare system more interested in profit than in healthcare.

To make a donation to help with Brittany’s care, follow the link above or click here and scroll down to the “Donate to Brittani” link.

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