Iranian Woman Slated For Death By Stoning

Authorities gave her 99 lashes for a news picture of someone else

Tehran - An Iranian lawyer says his client is a few steps
closer to death by stoning with the end of the holy month,
Ramadan.

Authorities have already lashed Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
because a picture closely resembling her with no veil
covering her hair appeared in "The Times" of London,
mistakenly identified as her.

The newspaper admitted its mistake and apologized.

Under Sharia law, it is a capital offense to commit adultery
when one is married. Sharia law calls for a death by
stoning.

A penalty of 100 lashes is assessed in the case of persons
who are unmarried.

Ms. Ashtiani has also previously been sentenced to 99 lashes
for an "illicit affair" with two men in a 2006 trial.

A mother of two, she is an activist for women's rights in
the conservative Islamic republic.

In a further complication, Iranian court officials suddenly
announced that she has been convicted of playing a role in
the murder of her husband. It is the subject of a taped
confession her lawyer says was obtained through torture and
other duress.

The particularly brutal form of execution is by law to be
carried out with the condemned person buried up their chest
in the ground. Sharia law specifies the stones to be used
cannot be so large as to inflict a fatal injury, nor so
small as to inflict no injury at all.

Death is slow and obviously very painful.

The Vatican raised the possibility of attempting to use
behind the scenes diplomacy to save her life.