Sakineh's forced confession on Iranian TV

The following is from the Iran Human Rights website, it was posted just an hour ago:

Sakineh Ashtiani in danger of execution

Iran Human Rights condemns Sakineh Ashtiani’s forced confessions against herself on the Iranian TV

Thursday 12 August 2010

Iran Human Rights, August 11: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the woman whose sentence to death by stoning sparked an international outcry, was put on a state-run TV programme last night where she confessed to adultery and involvement in a murder.

The British newspaper the Guardian wrote: “Speaking shakily in her native Azeri language, which could be heard through a voiceover, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani told an interviewer that she was an accomplice to the murder of her husband and that she had an extramarital relationship with her husband’s cousin. Her lawyer told the Guardian last night that his client, a 43-year-old mother of two, was tortured for two days before the interview was recorded in Tabriz prison, where she has been held for the past four years".

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of Iran Human Rights, condemned Mrs. Ashtiani’s forced confessions on the Iranian TV and said: "Having confessed to murder and adultery on the TV puts her in imminent danger of execution". Amiry-Moghaddam added: “One can clearly see the footprints of the Iranian intelligence service in this program, and it is not the first time that Iranian authorities televise this kind of confessions on the Iranian TV". He added:" Putting a woman who has been struggling with the nightmare of being stoned to death, under such a tremendous pressure and making her confess against herself, shows yet another inhumane side of the Iranian authorities".

Amiry-Moghaddam added: "We ask the international community to keep up the pressure on the Iranian authorities and make them understand that their continuous violations of the human rights will have practical consequences."

Also see the related stories at BBC.com and also The Guardian.