In what appears to be a response to world pressure, Iran is shifting it's story on the Iranian woman who was sentenced to stoning for committing adultery. Now, the Islamic Republic has suggested that in addition to adultery, 43-year-old Sakineh Ashtiani is guilty of murder.
According to The New York Times, several Iranian news sites, including the conservative news service Jahan, reported that Ahstiani has been charged with murder, but that since the details were "so horrific," the judge had not yet released the charge to the media.
These reports could explain Iran's phrasing in rejecting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's offer of diplomatic asylum to Ashtiani. Spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, in voicing the rejection, said that "as far as we know, da Silva is a very humane and emotional person who probably has not received enough information about the case." He added, “The details of the conviction of this individual would render it clear.”
Da Silva reacted to the statement, telling reporters at an economic meeting in Argentina, "I've learned as a head of state to respect the laws of all nations. If Iran is willing to discuss this matter, we would take great pleasure in talking about this woman's case. Each country has its laws, its religion and we have to, whether we agree with it or not, learn to respect that."
There has been much international outcry over the sentencing of Ashtiani. Although several countries have laws which include stoning as a punishment, Iran is the only country that still actually stones people as a form of execution, according to Amnesty International.
A CNN report quoted Iranian-born Ziba Mir-Hosseini, an expert on Iranian family law at London's School of Oriental and African Studies and campaigner against stoning, and Mohammed Ali Musawi, a research fellow at the Quilliam Foundation on the issue. Mir-Hosseini explains that, "stoning is not a Quranic punishment; it is Islamic jurisprudence. It happened later, [and] the punishment for any kind of sexual relations (outside of marriage) in the Quran is 100 lashes.
According to Ali Musawi, "stoning is based on sayings from the Prophet Mohammed."