By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The Vatican may soon become involved in trying to persuade the Iranian government to spare the life of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43 year-old mother of two who was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
According to Radio Free Europe, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi spoke publicly about the Ashtiani case for the first time this weekend. After denouncing stoning as a “particularly brutal form” of capital punishment, he said the Vatican was “following the case with attention and interest” and may consider intervening in the case.
“When the Holy See is asked, in an appropriate way, to intervene in humanitarian issues with the authorities of other countries, as it has happened many times in the past, it does so not in a public way, but through its own diplomatic channels,” Fr. Lombardi said.
The statement came after Ashtiani’s son, Sajad Ghaderzadeh, told the Italian news agency Adnkronos that he had appealed to Pope Benedict XVI and to the government of Italy to help save his mother’s life.
Ashtiani was originally sentenced to 99 lashes for “spreading corruption and indecency” via a photo published in Britain’s The Times newspaper purportedly of Ashtiani without a head scarf, and for conducting an “illicit relationship” with two men following her husband’s death. Even though the photo turned out to be a picture of another woman, the Iranian courts eventually went on to convict her of “adultery while married” and sentenced her to death by stoning.
The case has drawn international attention and increasing pressure upon the Iranian government to set Ashtiani free. Even though they temporarily suspended Ashtiani’s sentence, they began their own public relations compaign by airing what appeared to be a “confession” by Ashtiani of involvement in her husband’s murder in 2005.
According to her son, prison authorities also conducted a “mock execution” of Ashtiani by leading her to believe she was about to be hanged, than calling off the killing at the last minute.
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