The stoning sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has drawn international condemnation and has been suspended for now.
The semi-official Fars news agency reported Sunday that judicial official Malek Ajdar Sharifi was asked whether the stoning sentence could be commuted and responded: “Anything is possible.” Sharifi is the head of justice department of East Azerbaijan, the province where Ashtiani is imprisoned.
He said Ashtiani's case took a long time to decide because “there are some ambiguities in the evidence.”
Sharifi's remark came a day after Ashtiani appeared before a group of journalists working for international news networks during what Iranian judiciary officials called an "out of prison" visit to her family.
The journalists were not allowed to ask her questions during the meeting, which took place in the presence of judiciary officials at a guesthouse in Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan.
His statement also comes after Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, Ashtiani's son, pleaded before foreign media that her execution by stoning be stayed.
Sharifi said that certain "ambiguities" still remained in the "evidence" gathered in Ashtiani's case, and this was causing the delay in taking a final decision over the verdict.
The cleric said it is easy to issue a verdict in a case where the murderer clearly confesses to his crime.
"But in this case where the defendant (Ashtiani) denies or makes justifications and there are ambiguities in the evidence, the procedure gets prolonged," he said.
Ashtiani was sentenced to death by two different courts in Tabriz in separate trials in 2006.
Her sentence to hang for her involvement in the murder of her husband was commuted to a 10-year jail term by an appeals court in 2007.
But a second sentence to death by stoning on charges of adultery leveled over several relationships, notably with the man convicted of her husband's murder, was upheld by another appeals court the same year.
In her Saturday remarks to foreign media she said she wants to sue "the two German" journalists, her former lawyer Mohammad Mostafaie, anti-stoning campaigner Mina Ahadi and her husband's convicted murderer Issa Taheri.
"I have told Sajjad (her son)... to sue the ones who have disgraced me and the country... I have a complaint against them," she said.
The two German journalists from Bild a.m. Sonntag were arrested on Oct. 10 in Tabriz for interviewing Ashtiani's son and family lawyer who were also taken into custody. Her son has been free on bail since last month.
Iran says the two Germans entered the country on tourist visas and failed to obtain the necessary accreditation for journalists before "posing as reporters" when they contacted her family.
"I have come in front of the cameras at my own will to talk to the world," said the woman on Saturday.
"I am willing to talk because many people exploited (the case) and said I have been tortured, which is a lie... Leave my case alone. Why do you disgrace me?" she asked the reporters.
Berlin said on Sunday Ashtiani's remarks appeared to have been made under duress.
"The contents of the declarations relayed and the manner in which they were made really raise questions," a spokesman for the German foreign ministry said.
Ahadi said in Berlin that Ashtiani's remarks were made under "enormous pressure" exerted by "the regime of Iran." The deputy editor of Bild a.m. Sonntag also said he was "surprised and amazed" at Ashtiani's remarks about the newspaper's reporters.
"We find it surprising that a woman sentenced to death in Iran could leave prison for a few hours to announce to the Western media that she wants charges against the journalists reporting on her case," Michael Backhaus said.
Sharifi said that Ashtiani's meeting with foreign media was arranged following requests from the media themselves.
"Everything that must be said is said. No important points have been left out. Her lawyers, the convict herself and her son have said what should be said and nothing else (revelations) is left to be said," he said.
Prominent Germans, including business leaders, ministers and top sports stars, on Sunday urged Iran to free the two journalists.
