Reports this morning tell us that the Iranian judiciary have commuted the death by stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to death by some other means. Prior to this she endured 99 lashes and torture to extract a confession which she has recanted. Stoning takes at least 10 minutes as the stones are supposed to be fist sized and not thrown hard enough to kill right away. At the same time, buried up to her neck in sand, the woman cannot breathe.

It is impossible to feel enough outrage towards this barbarism. It is possible to take one small step towards adding voices to the calls for her release. Heather Reisman and others have instituted a petition that is credited with preventing the stoning. but Sakineh will still die, now having her neck broken or her life squeezed from her by the hangman’s rope. Perhaps they have learned how to make that process lengthy as well. The link to the petition follows:

http://freesakineh.org/