On Wed 3rd of January 2001, the Iranian paper 'Doran Emrouz' published reports of a court case in Karaj , near Tehran, where Islamic judge Ganji has condemned a 38 year old woman to death by stoning, for the murder of her husband with a male accomplice, who is sentenced to death. Death by stoning , is a medieval, brutal form of execution practised in Iran's Islamic Republic. The penal code , passed in 1996 is quite clear :"the stones used for this practise should not be so big as to inflict immediate death, nor should it be so small that it cannot qualify as a stone." During this process, the condemned is buried in sand, until the waist and executed by others throwing stones.
Workers Left Unity -Iran, abhores this brutal type of execution and reiterates its support for abolition of the death penalty in Iran. At a time when many countries have abolished the death penalty, at a time when world public opinion is condemning executions, this brutal sentence issued by the clerical regime in Iran is yet another manifestation of the interference of religion in the country's judicial and civil law and must be condemned. Earlier this week a man charged with stealing had four of his fingers amputated and on teh 2nd of Jan a number of women accused of 'mingling with the opposite sex" at New Year parties, received 70 lashes. If this is the kind of 'civilisation' the Iranian president has in mind, when he talks of the 'dialogue between civilisations', his government and the regime he presides over, should be condemned universally.
We call on Human Rights organisations to act swiftly to defend the life of this woman. Although she has not been named in the Iranian press, letters of protest should refer to the case of a 38 year old woman in branch 45 of the criminal court in Karaj.

Co-ordinating Committee of Workers Left Unity Iran
4th Jan 2000

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