Iran Infuriated By Film Of Woman's Stoning
Lisa Holland, world affairs correspondent
A film portraying the real-life stoning of an Iranian woman is opening in London despite protests from the country's government.
It depicts a brutal form of punishment still sanctioned by Iran's current hard-line regime. The film's director claims some European governments have been reluctant to support it - fearful of antagonising Iran's regime, already at loggerheads with the West. The film The Stoning Of Soraya M is based on the true story of a woman brutally killed after being falsely accused of adultery. Soraya is stoned to death in her Iranian village under Islamic Sharia law.
The film's director Cyrus Nowrasteh
The film's director, Cyrus Nowrasteh, has dedicated the screening to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani currently facing execution by stoning or hanging in Iran for adultery. Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: "The final scenes of The Stoning Of Soraya M are quite horrific and many viewers might want to turn away. I'd urge them not to.
"This is the cruel reality of execution by stoning; watch, be enraged, and take action to stop this inhumane practice. "The case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been taken up by people all over the world, who have protested and written letters to the Iranian authorities urging them to stop her execution by any method.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's plight has drawn protests from all over the world
"We have to keep this pressure up and make it clear to Iran's leaders that killing Sakineh would cause a global outrage. "Stonings are thankfully rare in Iran but they represent the ugly tip of a very large iceberg. "At least 190 people have already been executed this year in Iran, mostly by hanging and after unfair trials. "Amnesty opposes the death penalty regardless of the method of execution.
President Ahmadinejad claims the West is using the Ashtiani case for political gain
"We are calling on the Iranian authorities to stop this execution, stop the use of stoning altogether and stop criminalising the sex lives of consenting adults." Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the West of using the Ashtiani case to generate further opposition against it at a time when the country's nuclear programme is drawing international condemnation. The Stoning Of Soraya M serves as a painful reminder of the ruthlessness of the Iranian government - past and present.
