CAIRO: The death row case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani is still in the investigation phase, Iran's prosecutor general said on Thursday. The case has sparked widespread frustration from local and international rights groups calling on Tehran to end the use of the death penalty. “More time is needed to finalize the Mohammadi-Ashtiani case and reach a final verdict,” Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejehi told the official news agency IRNA. Ashtiani, 43, was arrested and charged with adultery earlier this year. That charge alone could see her stoned, under Iranian law. However, she was then charged with being an accomplice in the murder of her husband. If found guilty, she will be hanged. “It is quite clear that the murder charges against her will have priority over the adultery charges,” the prosecutor said. Amnesty International earlier this month called on Iranian authorities to immediately release the lawyer and son of Ashtiani. “We fear that Javid Houtan Kiyan may have been detained for no more than fulfilling his responsibilities as Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's lawyer, and for talking to foreign nationals” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program. The Iranian authorities have not confirmed either the arrest or the whereabouts of Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, Sakineh Ashtiani's son. Amnesty International has been unable to contact him since and believes he too has indeed been arrested. BM
