Italy mobilized to save Iranian stoning woman
Initiatives throughout country calling for clemency
02 September, 16:42
(ANSA) - Rome, September 2 - Italy is taking the lead in
pressing for clemency for the Iranian woman sentenced to death
by stoning for adultery with passionate appeals across the
country.The government has hung a huge photo of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani from the front of the Equal Opportunities Ministry in central Rome as part of its efforts to persuade Iran to commute her sentence, which has sparked an international outcry.
''This unprecedented act aims to mobilize opinion and contribute to saving Sakineh from a brutal, unacceptable sentence,'' explained Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna in a joint statement. The face of the 43-year-old mother-of-two is also on the front of Florence's Palazzo Medici and Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno has ordered an image of her be hung from the walls of the capital's city hall too. A protest has been organised Thursday outside the Iranian Embassy in Rome with representatives of Italy's main centre-left opposition parties taking part, including the biggest group, the Democratic Party (PD).
''It's unacceptable that women are sent to death in the cruellest of ways by governments that do not allow any civil or political rights in a globalised world,'' said Stefano Pedica, a senator with another opposition party, Italy of Values (IDV). A minute's silence, meanwhile, will be held at the PD's national festival in Turin for Ashtiani, who appeared on Iranian television last month confessing to adultery and to being an accomplice in her husband's murder.
Her lawyer said the television interview was recorded after she had been tortured.
''It's absurd that a woman risks being stoned to death in an advanced country like Iran in 2010,'' said Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo.
The Italian foreign ministry said it is doing its utmost via diplomatic channels to save Ashtiani.
''The case is being followed closely by the foreign ministry and personally by Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who has given instructions for close bilateral relations to be maintained with the Iranian authorities so that they consider clemency in this specific case,'' a recent ministry statement said.
