Action Item: Save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

[Trigger warning for violence.]

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is a 43-year-old Iranian mother of two children, who is facing death by stoning after she was delivered a death sentence for adultery by a judge invoking "judge's knowledge," a provision in Iranian law that "allows for subjective judicial rulings where no conclusive evidence is present." In other words, some judge had a gut instinct she's guilty, despite a lack of evidence and her children's testimony to the contrary, so now she's going to be killed on his hunch.

Rage. Seethe. Boil.

Sakineh has already received 99 lashes and spent five years in prison for her alleged crime:

Speaking to the Guardian, her son Sajad, 22, and daughter Farideh, 17, say their mother has been unjustly accused and already punished for something she did not do.

"She's innocent, she's been there for five years for doing nothing", Sajad said. He described the imminent execution as barbaric. "Imagining her, bound inside a deep hole in the ground, stoned to death, has been a nightmare for me and my sister for all these years."

Under Iranian sharia law, the sentenced individual is buried up to the neck (or to the waist in the case of men), and those attending the public execution are called upon to throw stones. If the convicted person manages to free themselves from the hole, the death sentence is commuted.

...Five years ago when Sakineh was flogged , Sajad was 17 and present in the punishment room. "They lashed her just in front my eyes, this has been carved in my mind since then."

Mohammed Mostafaei, an acclaimed Iranian lawyer volunteered to represent her when her sentence was announced a few months ago. He wrote a public letter about her conviction shortly after. "This is an absolutely illegal sentence," he said. "Two of five judges who investigated Sakineh's case in Tabriz prison concluded that there's no forensic evidence of adultery.

"According to the law, death sentence and especially stoning needs explicit evidences and witnesses while in her case, surprisingly, the judge's knowledge was considered as enough," he said.

International pressure could save Sakineh's life. Please take a moment and, if you have a blog, blog this story. Write your senators and representative and ask them to make noise on Sakineh's behalf.

Sign the Free Sakineh petition here.

And send a letter to the US State Department to urge action. Here is my letter, which you are welcome to borrow:

Dear Secretary Clinton:

I have recently become aware of the imminent death by stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Iran, the result of a judge's proclamation despite a lack of evidence for her alleged crime. As I am aware of and resoundingly support your emphasis on women's rights worldwide, I am hopeful that there will be a swift response to this appalling human rights violation, and I strongly encourage you to take a bold stance on behalf of the women of Iran.

Sincerely,
Melissa McEwan
Indiana

Get those teaspoons working, Shakers.