Iran: Kobra Najjar's stoning sentence has been converted into one hundred lashes.
She added: "In 1374 (1995) my client met Habib, a man whom her husband had brought home. Kobra confiding in Habib and confessing to him her problems, and afterwards, Habib killed Kobra's husband. Although he was sentenced to death, because the family of the husband gave their consent to receive blood money, Habib was released. Kobra N., however, was accused of serving as accomplice to murder, for which she was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment; and obstruction of justice by covering up facts on the murder case, for which she was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. Furthermore, Kobra was also accused of adultery and sentenced to stoning. She has spent the last 11 years of her life in prison in Tabriz, serving her imprisonment sentence and awaiting execution of her stoning sentence. Despite repentance and request for amnesty, her requests have been denied three times by the Commission of Amnesty."
The closing part of the letter asks: "Is it fair for a mother, a victim of forced prostitution, who did everything she could to safeguard her children from harm, to be sentenced to stoning and to be deprived from seeing her children for 11 years? Considering the facts of her case , the evidence, and documents provided, it would be highly appreciated to reconsider if possible her crime and give her amnesty in order to end the nightmares of a woman who has spent the last 11 years in prison awaiting her death."
Last week, the Stop Stoning Campaign issued a statement expressing concern over the stoning verdicts of 10 cases, 8 of which were women. By removing Kobra's name from the list, we are now focusing on the nine remaining cases.
The Spokesman of the Judiciary, in a press conference last week, emphasized that during the first week of Day (last week of December) 3 men were stoned in a cemetery in Mash'had.
19 January, 2009
Source: www.meydaan.net/english