An Iranian woman sentence to death by stoning for infidelity confessed to helping a man kill her husband and re-enacted the alleged crime in an meeting broadcast Friday by Iranian state television — an clear effort by the government to deflect international criticism over the case.
It was the fourth time Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani has been shown on TV as Tehran has faced an international outcry over the proclamation that she would be stoned to death, the latest source of friction between Iran and the West.
Establishment announced her conviction in the assassinate case only after the uproar over the stoning sentence erupted last summer, and her lawyer — who has since been arrested — said she was never properly put on trial for the killing and was tormented into confessing. Iranian authorities could use the assassinate charge to justify perform Ashtiani by hanging instead of stoning.
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