Vancouver is adding its name to a list of international cities rallying behind the Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was given 99 lashes and has been sentenced to death for alleged adultery. The Iranian authorities have also recently added murder to her charges.
On Saturday, protesters will gather outside the Vancouver Art Gallery calling for Mohammadi Ashtiani to be freed from prison and for Iran to abolish the practice of execution by stoning. According to Zari Asli, organizer of the Vancouver demonstration, the event will coincide with protests in as many as 100 cities as part of an international campaign spearheaded by StopStoning (and see earlier WVoN story).
Her stoning sentence was recently suspended because of an international outcry from dozens of human rights organizations — including Amnesty International — all maintaining her innocence. However, she could still be hanged.“Our goal for now is to free Sakineh,” said Asli. “But 22 others are sentenced to stoning. If we can abolish stoning in Iran, that would have a big impact on other places (with similar practices).”
Asli, who was born in Iran, became an activist for women’s rights after the government closed down her university three years into her engineering studies and forbade women from studying in that field. She fled to Canada soon after.
“I learned English to fight for women’s rights because it’s a tool to get equality for all women worldwide,” she said. “(This issue) is not just important to me. It’s important to anybody who hears this story. (Stoning) is barbaric. It belongs to 2,000 years ago.”
More on this from Metronews.ca.
