From the FLP Mailbox:
“On 18 March 2008, the Judicial Commission for Amnesty in Iran ordered the release from prison of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, a woman sentenced to death for adultery. Both Mokarrameh and her partner Jafar Kiani were originally scheduled to be stoned to death on 21 June 2007 for adultery. Equality Now issued an urgent appeal to stop the stonings. International advocacy appeared to have an effect as their sentences were suspended in the eleventh hour by a written order of the head of the judiciary in Tehran . Two weeks following the order, however, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Alireza Jamshidi announced in Tehran that Kiani’s sentence of stoning had been carried out on 5 July 2007. There were fears that the same fate would befall Mokarrameh. Until her recent amnesty she remained in prison on charges of adultery where she had spent a number of years along with her son who was born in prison.
“Equality Now would like to thank all of our Women’s Action Network members who took action on behalf of Mokarrameh. In spite of a moratorium on stoning issued in 2002 by Ayatollah Shahroudi, head of the Iranian judiciary, judges continue to hand down stoning sentences, in particular and disproportionately to women, for adultery. Equality Now continues to campaign for the commutation of all sentences of death by stoning and for the removal of all laws that discriminate against women, including those relating to fornication and adultery.
“We remain concerned for Zohreh and Azar Kabiri and Kobra Najjar, among others, who have been sentenced to stoning. Please contact Iran’s Head of Judiciary Ayatollah Shahroudi urging him to release Kobra Najjar with immediate effect (see this website). Please do the same for Zohreh and Azar Kabiri (see this website) and for all others sentenced to this cruel and inhuman punishment. Iran must comply with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and ban the practice of stoning, as well as recognize that adultery is a private act that should not incur criminal penalties.”
