"The Stoning of Soraya" by Iranian Journalist, Freidoune Sahebjam is a story about the real life story of an Iranian woman stoned to death after being accused unfairly of adultery. The book was translated recently into Arabic by Kalimat publishing house. The book utilizes this single incident to address the thousands of similar death sentences witnessed in Iran over the past fifty years following the deposition of the Shah of Iran and the arrival of the fundamentalist regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1979. Freidoune Sahebjam is a well-respected Iranian journalist who lived and worked in France. He always got into trouble with the Iranian government since the days of the Shah and eventually during the religious rule of Ayatollah Khomeini. In the fall of 1986, Sahebjam, who'd been kidnapped and beaten by pro-Khomeini terrorists in Paris, snuck into Iran to investigate conditions. In the isolated village of Kupayeh, an old woman beckoned Sahebjam aside and told him two weeks earlier her niece, Soraya M, was executed by stoning. Sahebjam tells the story of Soraya's, based on the interviews with the Soraya's aunt, the village's mayor, and other residents. He discussed the custom of stoning at length in the introduction of his book. Stoning is practiced in distant mountainous regions and approved by the village residents. The highest religious authorities are responsible for issuing a sentence against women. In cities, women accused of adultery usually bribe the Mullah not to issue the sentence. All a husband needs to do is to attain the testimonies of so-called witnesses and the accused woman has little hope of being saved from this fate since few will stand up for her. Arabic here
