An Iranian lawyer, who was forced to flee his country after defending a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, has been reunited with his family in Norway. Mohammad Mostafaei’s wife, Fereshteh, and the couple’s seven-year-old daughter, Parmida, arrived in Norway on tourist visas on Thursday.
Mr Mostafaei, 31, is seeking asylum in the country after learning that Iranian officials planned to arrest him for defending Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman who has been found guilty of adultery. Amid intense international media attention, the Iranian government has so far agreed to suspend the order of death by stoning, but Ashtiani may still be hanged for her so-called crimes.
Speaking to reporters at Oslo’s Gardermoen international airport, Fereshteh Mostafaei said she was happy to join her husband in Norway but is “very worried about the future”. The family said they are not sure how long they will stay as they are hoping Iranian authorities will soon allow them to return home without fear of prosecution.
Mr Mostafaei sparked a worldwide campaign for his former client after writing about her plight on his online blog. The lawyer said last month that the government only granted Ashtiani clemency due to the international interest in her case.
Why do the western press keep omitting the fact that she was sentenced to death for committing MURDER and adultery.
She was involved in the murder of her husband so she could commit adultery. I American’s, at least, tend to cheer about that sort of sentence.
>Why do the western press keep omitting the fact that she was sentenced to death for committing MURDER
Because it didn’t happen?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakineh_Mohammadi_Ashtiani
wikipedia isn’t proof of anything. Sovereign states are entitled to have their own legal system and sentencing. I don’t agree with capital punishment but many backward countries have it.
This is only an issue becuase of Iran’s defiance of the West, in a propaganda war like this I prefer not to jump to conclusions – believing anything printed about Iran by the west is accepting one piece of propaganda over another.
>wikipedia isn’t proof of anything
Sure. Now you’ll be wanting to link to somewhere that talks about her conviction for murder.
And, when you do, it’ll be interesting to see if the convictions for murder and adultery are linked. Everything I’ve seen so far indicates that the adultery charge was not linked to a murder one, thus invalidating your point – in that, at best, she’s been sentenced for murder (death) and adulery (death, by stoning no less).