YOUR VIEWS

THERE is long article in The Times of July 8th, the contents of which demand that every civilised person of conscience write to their MP or directly to the Iranian Embassy in Madrid or London to express their outrage at this latest example of uncivilised cruelty carried out under Islamic Sharia law.

In brief: 5 years ago, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani a 38 year-old mother was found guilty by an Iranian court of having had an illicit love affair. She was sentenced to 99 lashes to be followed by 5 years in prison. Further, the judge ruled that her 17 year-old young son must be present to watch his mother being beaten so terribly. Whilst Mrs Ashhtiani was serving her sentence a further charge was made that she may have been involved in the death of her husband. In the new court case which followed, she was found not guilty of murder but in view of her adultery she must die by stoning. The judges who pronounced this satanic sentence were also priests carrying out the tenets of Islamic law. As a result, this youngish mother will be taken from her prison cell, and with her hands tied behind her back, wrapped from head to toe in a shroud, her face being left uncovered (as per the photograph in “The Times”), and buried up to her chest. She will then have rocks hurled at her head by the surrounding crowd of civilians until she is dead.

It is worth noting that Lawrence Cannon, Canada's Minister for Foreign Affairs has stated publicly that he doubts if Mrs Ashtiani even received a fair trial.

In Martin Fletcher's ‘Commentary' which appears in the same “Times” edition he states that in Afghanistan, prior to the US invasion of 2001 women were stoned to death as a matter of course. He also records the death by stoning of a 13 year-old girl in Somalia also administered under Islamic Sharia law. In his article he writes of ‘the head slumped forward in death, the shrouds drenched in blood'.

According to the International Committee Against Stoning, at least 50 Iranian women were stoned to death between 1986 and 1997.
Martin Fletcher, in his grizzly article writes: “It takes 20 or 30 minutes for victims to die, and their families are sometimes obliged to watch. Death is caused by concussion or brain damage sustained from repeated blows to the head.” This kind of evil must be stopped. Let us hope that the force of international protest can bring an end for all time to Islamic practices which may have been acceptable 1000 years ago but have no place in today's civilisation.

Yours sincerely, David Lee