http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/french-foreign-minister-bernard-kouchner-offers-to-plead-for-womans-life-in-iran/story-e6frg6so-1225915558458
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner offers to plead for woman's life in Iran Charles Bremner, Paris From: The Times September 08, 2010 12:00AM THE campaign to save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, has gained further momentum after French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner offered to fly to Tehran to plead for her release. Dr Kouchner said yesterday he would make a personal cause out of the case of the 43-year-old woman, whose crime was alleged adultery. "I am ready to do anything to save her. If I must go to Tehran to save her, I shall go," he said. The Foreign Minister's intervention came as Ms Ashtiani's 22-year-old son and her lawyer in Tabriz said they feared the authorities could order her sentence to be carried out soon after Ramadan ends on Friday. Dr Kouchner's intervention was the most direct so far from a leading country in the case of Ms Ashtiani, who was convicted in 2006 of having "illicit relationships" with two men after the murder of her husband a year earlier. "This is an unbearable punishment, the height of barbarity and a return to the Middle Ages," Dr Kouchner said after meeting Mohammed Mostafaei, her former lawyer from Tehran, in Paris. France hopes that EU foreign ministers will agree to a position on Ms Ashtiani's case by the end of the week. In London, a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said its ministers were "committed to maintaining the international pressure on Iran". "They have made their serious concerns very clear in both public and private," he said. "Her suffering is front and centre in our minds as we work with European partners on this specific case and our wider concerns about human rights in Iran." MEPs will vote on a resolution tonight criticising Iran's human rights record and calling for an end to stoning and the death penalty. The draft resolution expresses particular concern over Ms Ashtiani and Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch-Iranian woman in jail in Tehran for taking part in an anti-government demonstration. Sajad Ghaderzade, Ms Ashtiani's son, urged the world to keep up pressure on the regime. "Ramadan is coming to an end and, according to Islamic law, executions can resume," he said. He called on Turkey and Brazil, Tehran's allies, to intervene. Speaking in Paris on a crackly mobile phone from Tabriz, the family's home town, Mr Ghaderzade said his mother had been cut off from all outside contact since her televised "confession" on August 11. He feared this could signal imminent execution. He said his mother had also received 99 lashes last week as punishment for the mistaken publication by The Times of a picture that was said to be her. A judge ordered the whipping for the offence of spreading indecency because the woman in the picture was not wearing the chador, the traditional head and body covering. Houtan Kian, Ms Ashtiani's lawyer in Tabriz, said by telephone that he had received confirmation of Ms Ashtiani's flogging from a judge and prisoners. He also said state agents had raided his home and office and removed files and a laptop computer. They contained the last traces of court verdicts that had found Ms Ashtiani innocent of involvement in her husband's murder. "They beat up the caretaker of my apartment building so badly that he was taken to hospital," he said. Iranian activists in Paris said the regime appeared to be at odds over Ms Ashtiani's fate. Ultra-conservatives believed the sentence should be applied swiftly to defy world opinion. A more moderate faction was sensitive to outside pressure. The Times Related Coverage a.. Iran stoning could happen after Ramadan Adelaide Now, 1 day ago b.. Iranian on death row given 99 lashes The Australian, 1 day ago c.. Iran contrives crime to justify lashes The Australian, 1 day ago d.. Iran 'stoning woman' to get 99 lashes Adelaide Now, 3 days ago e.. World urged to keep pressure on Iran over stoning The Australian, 4 days ago [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
