Author: Gena Somra and Mitra Mobasherat
Publication: CNN
Date: July 6, 2010
URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/06/iran.stoning/index.html?fbid=IuLEZ1q3lGf
Sajjad Mohammedie Ashtiani travels to a Tabriz
jail in Iran every Monday to see his mother.
And for 15 minutes each week, he speaks to
his mother, Sakine Mohammedie Ashtiani, through the prison glass that divides
them.
Neither mother nor son ever know if the visit
will be their last.
Convicted of adultery in 2006, Ashtiani has
been sentenced to be stoned to death for her alleged crime.
Originally sentenced to 99 lashes for her
alleged "illicit relationship outside of marriage," Ashtiani endured
that punishment in front of her then 17-year-old son.
"The authorities asked if I wanted to
wait outside. I said no. I could not leave my mother alone."
Sajjad says it is a day he will never forget.
But, he says, that day he thought the worst was over.
"I was thinking, OK, they hit her, now
it's finished. They told me this process was finished. She's done. She's free
to go. "
But then a judges' panel in Tabriz suspected
Ashtiani of being involved in her husband's murder and re-opened her case.
She was cleared of the murder charges, but
the panel re-examined Ashtiani's adultery sentence, and based on unspecified
"judges' knowledge," decided she should be put to death for the
alleged affair.
"At that time it should have been finished.
They should have punished her only once," says her son. "Her documents
say she is innocent. She paid for the crime five years ago."
Human rights activist Mina Ahadi, herself
forced to flee a death sentence in Iran almost 30 years ago, has also taken
up Ashtiani's cause, working with Sajjad and his sister Farideh to get their
message out.
She says pressure from outside Iran can make
a difference.
"Legally, it's all over, and we have
no chance. It's a done deal. Sakine can be stoned at any minute. But we have
experienced again and again that when we organize events world-wide, when
we protest world-wide, and in particular when we contact European governments
and these governments put pressure on the Islamic regime in Iran, sometimes
we have a chance."
So far, there has been no response from Iranian
officials about the Ashtiani case.
And with all legal appeals virtually exhausted,
Sajjad says the Tabriz court has told him there is only one thing that can
stop his mother's imminent execution.
"They told me if supreme leader Ayatollah
Khamenei ... or Judiciary Chairman Sadegh Larijani grant my mother a letter
of pardon, she will go free."
Sajjad says he traveled to Tehran six times
to obtain that letter, but has been unable to gain an audience with either
man.
But he refuses to give up. He is turning to
the international community in hopes the Iranian government will hear his
voice.
"It is crucial I tell these men what
I have to say.
"Dear Mr. Khamenei, Mister Ahmadinejad,
and Mister Larijani:
"All I ask for is a letter. I want a
letter for my dear mother. Please write this letter of pardon because she
is innocent, 100 percent innocent. If you do not have respect for what I am
saying, just take a look at her file. You will see she is innocent.
"To the people of the world, I want to
say, for this situation we are in: Help us. Whoever can tell the government
to stop this, please do. If you can pressure Ayatollah Khamenei or Sadegh
Larijani to give my family a letter, please get them to send it to us."
Sajjad knows he is taking a risk by speaking
out so publicly, but says he is not afraid for his own safety.
"I am just fighting for what is right,"
he says.
"My mother is a housewife, a good person,
a caring mother," Sajjad says.
And she has grown weary of what seems to be
a punishment without end.
On his last visit with her she told him, "I
can't stay in this prison any longer."
And so Sajjad and his sister Farideh are reaching
out in any way they can to try and save their mother's life.
In their open letter to the international
community circulated on websites, Facebook pages and through human rights
organizations late last week their anguish is clear.
"Today we stretch out our hands to the
people of the whole world," the letter reads. "It is now five years
that we have lived in fear and in horror, deprived of motherly love. Is the
world so cruel that it can watch this catastrophe and do nothing about it?
"We resort to the people of the world,
no matter who you are and where in the world you live. Help to prevent this
nightmare from becoming reality. Save our mother.
"We are unable to explain the anguish
of every moment, every second of our lives. Words are unable to articulate
our fear."
