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German official: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s statement cause lot of issues

Politics Materials 5 January 2011 16:37 (UTC +04:00)
Statements made by Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani have raised many questions, German Foreign Ministry’s official Markus Hatzelmann said.
German official: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s statement cause lot of issues

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 5 / Trend T.Konyayeva /

Statements made by Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani have raised many questions, German Foreign Ministry's official Markus Hatzelmann said.

"Manner and content of the reported remarks of Ms. Ashtiani raise many questions," Hatzelmann told Trend over telephone." But, our goal remains the return of the two German nationals to Germany as soon as possible."

Ashtiani, who was sentenced to death in Iran by stoning, intends to sue two German journalists who were arrested for attempting to interview her son, France-Presse Agency reported late last week citing the Iranian media.

Two journalists from the German magazine Bild am Sonntag, who arrived in Iran as tourists, were arrested in Oct. 2010 and are still in custody. The Iranian Prosecutor General said they plead guilty in illegal journalistic activity and links with foreign "counter-revolutionary movements."

Ashtiani will also sue her former lawyer, Mohammad Mostafai, activist of the International Committee against stoning Mina Ahadi and Isa, who was involved in the murder of her husband, for "false information and defaming its details."

The 43 year-old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is a mother of two, sentenced to stoning till death for alleged adultery. Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband the year before and was sentenced at that time to 99 lashes.

According to Shariat - the set of legal, ethical and religious norms of Islam to Muslims - married Iranians, who are convicted of adultery, must be sentenced to death by stoning.

In Sept. 2010, she was sentenced to stoning till death for murder and according to Iran's General Prosecutor Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje'i, this sentence is a higher priority than penalty for adultery.

Verdict over Ashtiani caused violent protests in the West and the Iranian authorities postponed execution in early July 2010. A number of prominent public figures voiced support to the Iranian women.

The case is now under review by the Supreme Court of Iran.

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