Ashtiani Case to be reviewed and taken to Ahmadinejad

The campaign to prevent Ms Ashtiani from being stoned to death for alleged adultery has recently been taken to President Ahmadinejad for a case review on April 18, 2011.  British political leaders have also now united in demanding justice for Ms Ashtiani. She has now been held prisoner for 5 years and been subjected to numerous beatings and several lashes.

Ms Ashtiani’s Tehran lawyer – Mohammed Mostafaei was also imprisoned and tortured as a result of defending her. 

Ms Ashtiani’s children sent out a plea to the world to come to their mother’s aid and, in response, tens of thousands of people signed online petitions and held Ms Ashtiani’s picture in demonstrations outside Iranian embassies.  Scores of politicians signed an open letter expressing their horror and dismay at what Ashtiani had been put through.

The campaign certainly had an immediate impact as the Iranian Embassy in London issued a statement saying that Ms Ashtiani would not be stoned.  However there is still the possibility that she could be hung.  She has languished in prison for almost six years, not knowing if she will be hung or not each day.

Ms Ashtiani is no saint, she did commit adultery on her husband, who regularly beat her and aimed to sell her to friends for sex.  However any claims that Iran makes about respecting human rights certainly cannot be taken seriously when looking at Ashtiani’s treatment.  Her case also helped to prevent Iran’s bid for a seat on the new UN Human Right’s council.  It remains to be seen whether Ashtiani’s situation will improve as a result of the case review.