The fate of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani remains uncertain.  The 43-year-old mother of two had been sentenced to stoning for alleged adultery.

There has been an international outcry about her sentence, and it has given impetus to a move to abolish the practice of stoning worldwide.

The Iranian government is now saying that Ashtiani also had a hand in the murder of her husband.  The International Committee Against Stoning has said that she was acquitted of involvement in that murder some time ago.  They claim the Iranian regime is trying to portray Ashtiani as a murderer in order to soften the international pressure against her execution.

Earlier this week, a spokesman for Iran’s Judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, said that “she is convicted of murder and her death sentence for that has priority over her punishment (for committing adultery)” That statement implies that Ashtiani will likely be put to death for involvement in the murder of her husband, and not stoned for adultery, as murder is more serious than adultery.

The punishment for murder is typically hanging.  A man was already sentenced to death for the murder of Ashtiani’s husband, but he was pardoned by Ashtiani’s son.  In Iran, a murder victim’s family can spare the life of the person convicted of that murder if they choose to do so.  The Committee Against Stoning finds it illogical that Ashtiani’s son would not have the right to pardon his mother as well, if she is convicted of murder.

Mohseni-Ejei of the Iran’s Judiciary went on, in apparent response to the international reaction to this case.  “The issue should not be politicised and the Judiciary will not be influenced by the propaganda campaign launched by the Western media.”

When President Ahmadinejad was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly last week, he denied that Ashtiani had ever been sentenced to stoning.  He blasted the United States for allowing Teresa Lewis to death by lethal injection in Virginia.

Meanwhile, the International Committee Against Stoning has circulated a letter they say was written by Ashtiani’s son, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh on the 27^th of September.

He appeals to all officials in European countries.  “Perhaps I am not in a position to write a letter to 27 European and Western countries, but what can I do?  I have no other hope but you, dear ones.  I have no more tears to shed.  The only thing I have left is a lump in my throat.  I only hope that God helps me in writing this letter.  I have lost my father, and now this government wants to take our mother from me and my sister for a crime that she has not committed.

You all know that my mother is innocent and has spent five years languishing in a cold, black pit.  For a moment, I put myself in my mother’s place and I imagine myself bound behind those prison bars, living the nightmare of waiting for death by stones.”

The Committee Against Stoning says that Iran’s Judiciary will make a decision on Ashtiani’s case in the next two weeks.  They say they believe Iran is waiting for the international outcry to subside, for the case to be forgotten, before they deal with Ashtiani.  The Committee Against Stoning says they won’t let the case fade, not just for Ashtiani’s sake, but for the sake of the others in Iran who face stoning sentences.