TV address by woman sentenced to death by stoning

Tehran: Iranian state television has broadcast a purported statement by an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in which she calls herself a sinner and describes the support of human rights group, campaigning for her release, as "useless."

The stoning sentence against the 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been put on hold and is now being reviewed by Iran's Supreme Court, but she still faces a possible death sentence by other means.

The outcry over the case is one of the latest thorns in Iran's relationship with the international community, as the US, EU and international human rights groups have urged Tehran to stay the execution.

A woman identified as Ashtiani by state TV said in the TV report shown on Monday: "I committed a sin." Her face was blurred and her words were subtitled in Farsi - purportedly translated by state TV from Azeri Turkish, which is spoken in parts of Iran.

The report also broadcast purported statements by two men whose faces were blurred that state TV identified as Ashtiani's son, Sajjad Qaderzadeh, and her lawyer, Houtan Javid Kian, both of whom were arrested last month.

It also aired comments from two German nationals who were detained allegedly while trying to interview Ashtiani's family in October. AP Television has no independent means of verifying the contents of the statements made by the broadcaster IRIB.

Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband the year before and was sentenced at that time to 99 lashes.

Later that year, she was also convicted of adultery and sentenced to be stoned, even though she retracted a confession that she says was made under duress. Ashtiani has also been convicted of involvement in the death of her husband, whom Iranian prosecutors say was murdered. She could still face execution by hanging in the two cases.

Before being arrested, Her lawyer Houtan Javid Kian has said that his client was never formally put on trial on the charge of being an accomplice to her husband's murder and was not allowed to mount a defence.

Her family and lawyer have said in the past that Ashtiani was tortured while in custody. In the state TV report, Qaderzadeh retracted his previous allegations that his mother was tortured, and criticised Kian and Ashtiani's previous lawyer - who fled to Norway this summer - for publicising the case.

"He (Kian) told me to say she (Ashtiani) was tortured," Qaderzadeh purportedly said. "Unfortunately, I listened to him and said lies to the foreign media." "I am regretful, because I think that if I had not met these two lawyers and Mrs Ahadi, this case would have been proceeded on a normal path."

The broadcast of the purported statements appeared to be an attempt by Tehran to deflect international criticism of the case and focus attention instead on the West by accusing it of stirring up controversy over the case to damage the reputation of Iran's Islamic leadership. Iran has in the past accused a German-based Iranian anti-government group of arranging for Germans to interview Ashtiani's family. Many exiled Iranian opposition groups have offices in Germany.

State TV said the two German nationals, whom Iran has accused of being spies, confessed that they had been hired by a female activist of the German-based International Committee Against Stoning (Icas), Mina Ahadi, to speak with Ashtiani's family.

Ahadi was reported to have provided translation over the telephone as the Germans interviewed Ashtiani's son. In the report Ashtiani purportedly says: "I want to tell Mrs Mina Ahadi that my case is none of your business."

According to the translation provided by the state TV, one of the Germans also said he intends to file a complaint against the activist once he returns home, while the second German said he had been deceived by her.

The faces of both men were shown clearly in the footage, however their words could not be clearly heard as they were voiced over with a Farsi translation. A spokesman for Germany's Foreign Ministry said on Monday the ministry is trying to verify the reports and to get more information on the matter. He declined to be named in line with German government policy.

The arrest of the two men - who the German Journalists' Association has only identified as a reporter and a photographer - suggests just how sensitive Tehran is over the case. Their detention will almost certainly elevate tensions between Iran and the West, already running high over suspicions about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Stoning in some case was imposed in the years following the 1979 Islamic revolution, and even though Iran's judiciary still regularly hands down such sentences, they are often converted to other punishments.

The last known stoning was carried out in 2007, although the government rarely confirms that such punishments have been meted out. Under Islamic rulings, a man is usually buried up to his waist, while a woman is buried up to her chest with her hands also buried. Those carrying out the verdict then throw stones until the condemned dies.