5 November 2010

Together We Can Save Sakineh Ashtiani!

Protestors demonstrate against the death-by-stoning sentence of Iranian woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, at Trocadero near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, August 28, 2010. France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has asked the European Union to intervene by finding initiatives to remind Iran of their international commitments on the subject of human rights. Signs read Neither stoned nor submissive and Let's save Ashtiani .  REUTERS/Mal Langsdon (FRANCE - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS)



Have you heard that Iran could kill Sakineh Ashtiani today?

Dear Friends,
  
Our global outcry stopped her unjust stoning sentence in July. Now we have less than 24 hours to save her life.

Iran's allies and key UN powers are our best hope -- they could persuade Iran of the serious political cost of this high-profile killing. Click here to send them an urgent call to action and send this to everyone -- it only takes three minutes and we are her last chance.

Sakineh's adultery case is a tragic sham stacked with human rights violations. First, she was to be stoned to death. But the Iranian government had to revoke the sentence after her children generated a tremendous outcry against the farcical trial -- she could not speak the language used in court, and the alleged incidents of adultery took place after her husband's death.

Then her lawyer was forced into exile, and the prosecution conjured up a new trumped-up charge for which she would be executed -- the murder of her husband. Despite this being double jeoprady, as she is already serving time for alleged complicity in this crime, Sakineh was tortured and paraded on national television to 'confess', and was found guilty. The regime has now arrested two German journalists, her lawyer and her son, who has bravely led the international campaign to save his mother. All remain in prison and Sakineh's son and lawyer have been also tortured and have no access to lawyers.

Now Iranian human rights activists state an order has just been issued from Tehran to implement her killing immediately, she is on the list and tomorrow is execution day.

Persistent campaigning led Iran to drop Sakineh's stoning sentence and captured the attention of leaders in countries with influence on Iran, like Turkey and Brazil. Now let's urgently raise our voices to stop her killing and inhumane treatment and free her, her lawyer, her son and the jailed German journalists.

A massive public outcry has the moral authority to stop heinous crimes. Let's use these 24 hours to send a clear message -- the world is watching and we all stand together today to save Sakineh's life and against injustice everywhere.

With hope and determination,

Loup Dargent
(On behalf of Alice, Stephanie, Pascal, Giulia, Benjamin and the whole of the Avaaz team)

PS: I've just sent an emergency message to Iran's allies and key UN powers urging them to intervene and help safe Sakineh's life.

Please click on this link and join me in sending a message now.

Thanks in advance...


A demonstrator holds a picture of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, in front of the Iranian Embassy in Rome in this September 2, 2010 file photo. Ashtiani whose sentence of execution by stoning for adultery provoked a worldwide outcry will instead be hanged for the murder of her husband on November 3, 2010, a human rights group said. Picture taken September 2, 2010. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/Files  (ITALY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION)


Sources:

A young girl and two women demonstrate in support of Iranian woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani on Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, August 28, 2010. Ashtiani has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in Iran. REUTERS/John Major   (CANADA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS SOCIETY)