Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning now tortured to confess adultery, murder - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

An Iranian woman whose sentence to death by stoning sparked an international outcry is feared to be facing imminent execution, after she told state-run TV that she had committed adultery and was involved in a murder following torture in prison. Speaking shakily in her native Azeri language, which could be heard through a voice over, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani told her interviewer that she was an accomplice to the murder of her husband and that she had an extra-marital relationship with her husband's cousin. Her lawyer told the Guardian last night that his client, a 43-year-old mother of two, was tortured for two days before the interview was recorded in Tabriz prison, where she has been held for the past four years. "She was severely beaten up and tortured until she accepted to appear in front of camera. Her 22-year-old son, Sajad and her 17-year-old daughter Saeedeh are completely traumatised by watching this programme," said lawyer Houtan Kian. He added that there were now fears that the Iranian authorities would act quickly to carry out the death sentence, which was reportedly commuted to hanging after an international outcry last month. The sentence was initially for "having an illicit relationship outside marriage" but some Iranian officials have claimed she was also found guilty of murdering her husband and should still face death by stoning. The interview was broadcast on a show called 20:30, a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Tehran to honour treaty obligations to respect the rights of citizens and halt executions. Observers suggested one of the signs she was speaking under duress was that in the interview she blamed the western media for interfering in her personal life. Amnesty International condemned the "so-called" confession and said the independence of Iran 's judiciary was "tattered" by the broadcast. "This makes a complete mockery of the judiciary system in Iran ," said Drewery Dyke of Amnesty's Iran team.