Another vision of Iranian justice became apparent today with the announcement of a stoning sentence for two sisters accused by their respective husband and brother of adultery. In what passes for a Supreme Court in Iran, the justices upheld the sentences which are based on that country’s Islamic code. The sisters, Zohreh and Azar were originally sentenced to lashing but have been convicted a second time and sentenced to die by stoning.
This most recent legal atrocity out of Iran began with a husband, who appears to believe that marital problems are best resolved in a bloody pile of stones.
The husband set up a camera that caught his wife and sister meeting with men outside his presence. No illicit contact was captured on the tape, but that was enough for the Iranian justice system. They were originally both tried and convicted for “illegal relations” and given 99 lashes each.
However, flogging the women did not satiate extremists in charge of the Iranian legal system and they were tried a second time and sentenced to die.
While stoning was suspended in 2002 by judiciary head Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, it has not stopped the practice. In 2007, Jafar Kiani was stoned to death for adultery. (The judge threw the first stone).
Zohreh’s husband does not appear bothered by the fact that he may have caused both his wife and sister to be first flogged and then stoned to death.
“She did not treat me well and her actions made me feel she did not want to live with me any more,” said the husband, who was not named.
“To make sure I planted a camera in the house… When I watched the tape two days after, I found out that she and her sister brought over men after I left and had relationships with them,” he said.
Zohreh said she had an edgy relationship with her husband because of the strict limits he imposed on her life.
“I was a teacher and loved my job but my husband did not let me work… he was always suspicious of me and thought our differences were because I had an affair,” she was quoted as saying by the daily.
For the full story, click here.
Of course, this is but the latest shocking case to come out of the Iranian legal system. Click here.
Like the recent controversies in Saudi Arabia (here)
these cases reveal the dangers of mixing religion and politics — a lesson not entirely learned in our own country — click here.
This is one of the most difficult things to wrap one’s brain around. There is right, and there is wrong – but there are different ‘rights’ and different ‘wrongs’ in other Sovereign Nations. We could chose to impose ourselves on those nations – but like Dr. Phil says: “How’s that workin’ out for ya’?”
I believe that Governments should stay out of this affair, and we citizens should voice our outrage as residents of the Earth, and exert influence by writing, reporting and otherwise communicating with groups that may actually be able to exert some 21st century reason. Young Iranians, not completely and already disgusted with the acts of the US and Great Britain with regards to the invasion and occupation of Iraq can’t be very happy. Before our Nation presided over this act of hegemonic aggression, young Iranians held the US in very high esteem. Now we’ve managed to change that view due to many factors, including a demonstrably hawkish UN Ambassador – Bolton, and a feckless Secretary of State – not to mention our entire Nation. That’s right – it lands on us – because to change this will take all of us dismantling the great wall that we’ve permitted divisive and dark politicians to construct between political denominations and demeanors.
As a matter of theocratic rule – Iran will have a difficult time in keeping their own Nation together because the Nation is largely secular, despite the rhetoric and the corporate media drum roll.
Iran has its own problems, another country with a rogue government that has presided over amazing international blunders, caused itself to be alienated from the West and seemingly comfortable with enormous death and destruction, just like us.