After the European Parliament condemned the sentence of death by stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, DROI chair Hautala welcomes the decision by Iranian authorities to review the case.[:] 

Heidi Hautla, Chairwoman of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights welcomes the decision by the Iranian authorities to put the stoning sentence of a woman convicted of adultery and murder “on hold” and to review the case.

The death sentence of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani was condemned by all European Parliament’s political groups in a resolution adopted today. Members of the Parliament urged the Iranian authorities to lift the sentence by stoning and review the case. In the resolution, the European Parliament moreover underlines that regardless of the circumstances, stoning is never an acceptable sentence. “It is time this barbaric practice is ended in Iran,” MEP Hautala stressed.

“Ms Ashtiani has already suffered a grave violation of ill-treatment in the hands of the authorities, this must not be allowed to continue,” chairwoman Hautala declared. Ms Ashtiani has been convicted of being accomplice in the murder of her husband and “adultery” but according to her lawyer, there is no evidence of this. There are concerns her trial was also fundamentally flawed. She has already endured 99 lashes as a punishment.

DROI chairwoman Hautala hails the European Parliament action and the subsequent announcement by the Iranian authorities as an example of how the European Parliament has evolved into a global human rights force to be reckoned with.