Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s sentence to be stoned for adultery was suspended last year after condemnation from a number of governments, but she had still faced death by hanging for being an accomplice in her husband’s murder.
In a letter to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the head of Parliament’s human rights committee, Zohre Elahian, said the hanging had also been suspended due to pleas from her children.
“Although the stoning sentence has not been finalized yet, the hanging sentence has been suspended due to (her children’s) pardon,” the letter said, according to student news agency ISNA.
Ashtiani, who was arrested in 2006, has been sentenced to 10 years’ jail, Elahian said.
Ashtiani’s son Sajjad Ghaderzadeh told foreign media early this month that she had violated Islamic law but called for compassion and forgiveness.
Later on Monday a judicial official cast doubt on Elahian’s remarks. “No change or development has happened in the process of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s case and publishing any news in this regard is false,” Malek Ajdar Sharifi, an official in the province where the case was heard, was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
“Her file is being investigated in the national supreme court and her final verdict has not been issued yet.”
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered Ashtiani asylum in July, prompting an embarrassing public rejection by Iran which said he was a “humane and sensitive character” but was not in possession of all the facts.
Brazil has warm relations with Iran and attempted to broker a deal over Iran’s nuclear program last year which was rejected by the West.
