Iran 'stoning woman' denies being lashed

16 Sep 2010, 5:22 am   -   Source: AAP
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An Iranian woman claiming to be the one sentenced to death by stoning has denied that she was lashed in prison and tortured.

An Iranian woman claiming to be the one sentenced to death by stoning has denied that she was lashed in prison and tortured, in an interview aired on state television.

The woman, wearing a face-covering chador, was said to be Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, the 43-year-old mother of two who has been sentenced to death by stoning.

She denied on Wednesday that she was lashed after The Times of London published on August 28 a picture of a woman it identified as her who was not wearing the Islamic headscarf.

By law, women in the Islamic republic must be covered from head to foot, with their hair completely veiled.

Soon after publication of the picture there were reports that Mohammadi-Ashtiani was punished with 99 lashes in prison. Her son, Sajjad, too said on September 6 that he had "heard" his mother was lashed over the published picture.

"No. I do not confirm it. It is all a lie and rumour," the woman said on television in the Azeri language, with Farsi subtitles.

This was the second such broadcast of what state television said was an interview of Mohammadi-Ashtiani whose stoning sentence has generated an international outcry.

Mohammadi-Ashtiani has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and has also received a 10-year jail term for participating in the murder of her husband.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has repeatedly said a final decision about her verdict is still pending.

On Wednesday, the woman also denied she was tortured to accept doing the previous interview aired, on August 12.

"I have not been tortured. What I say are my words and no one has forced me to come in front of the camera. What I say is all mine," she said.

As in the August 12 broadcast, she admitted that a man with whom she was acquainted had offered to kill her husband and that she had let him do it.

Several foreign governments and human rights bodies have denounced her stoning sentence as barbaric, and some have even questionedwhether she received a fair trial.

Mohammadi-Ashtiani's son had expressed fear that his mother would be executed after Ramadan, which ended last week.

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