What are her chances of being pardoned by the authorities?
Her lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei has pleaded with the Head of the Judiciary, Head of the Provincial Judiciary and members of the Amnesty and Clemency Body to commute Mohammadi-Ashtiani’s sentence to one that enables her to return to her life and children. His plea has been denied twice. In previous cases, Ayatollah Shahroudi, the former Head of the Judiciary in Iran, has commuted stoning sentences with the approval of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene’i. According to her lawyer, repentance would have been adequate to warrant a pardon but the series of executions in Iran lately is sending an alarming signal that the Iranian authorities might carry out her sentence. We hope that by calling the world’s attention to this case, the international community will put pressure on Iran to overturn Mohammadi-Ashtiani’s sentence. This has worked before in previous stoning cases.
