IRAN: STONING SENTENCE ON HOLD, SAYS FOREIGN MINISTRY

Iran’s foreign ministry said the stoning death sentence given to a woman convicted of adultery and murder was now on hold. Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast maintained Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was guilty of murder and adultery but said the sentence to death by stoning, which drew global condemnation, was reviewed and put on hold. "Defending a person on trial for murder should not be turned into a human rights matter," he said.
"The sentencing of Ms. Ashtiani for adultery has been stopped and is being reviewed again, and her sentencing for complicity in murder is in process." Mehmanparast said people sympathetic to Ashtiani's plight should consider the bereaved relatives of her murder victim.