With all this election coverage, its easy to miss some of the other important stories out there. This one, about Iranian prisoner Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, is one of those important stories.
We at IWF have been followingthe Ashtiani story for months. In case you don’t remember, her case received widespread press coverage over the summer when her sentence to be executed by stoning was stayed by the Iranian government after it received pressure from international human rights groups and world leaders.
However, this morning, the New York Times is reporting that human rights groups fear she may be hanged as early as today. Its a smart move on the part of the Iranian leadership who clearly wants this woman dead–the world has moved on and the United States is focused on the mid-term elections. The International Committee Against Stoning posted a statement on its website on Monday stating:
According to news received by the International Committee against Stoning and International Committee against Execution on 1 November 2010, the authorities in Tehran have given the go ahead to Tabriz prison for the execution of Iran stoning case Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. It has been reported that she is to be executed this Wednesday, Nov. 3.
Let’s hope the world once again turns its attention to the suffering of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.