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Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

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Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

Iranian's stoning would be 'barbarous': Brazil's new leader

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Dilma Rousseff
BRASILIA, November 3, 2010 (AFP) - Brazil's female president-elect, Dilma Rousseff, said Wednesday she was "totally opposed" to the death-by-stoning sentence ordered for an Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani.

"I am totally opposed to the stoning of the Iranian woman," she told reporters in a joint media conference in Brasilia with outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"I have no official status for that (to intervene), but I tell you all that I find the stoning of Sakineh a very barbarous act," she said.

"Even taking into account customs of other countries, the stoning of Sakineh remains a barbarous act."

Lula, who hands over power January 1 to Rousseff, his protegee and former cabinet chief, in July urged "my friend," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to grant Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani asylum in Brazil.

But Tehran rebuffed the request, saying that, though Lula was respected, he was poorly informed and being "emotional," and he should not interfere in Iran's internal affairs.

Mohammadi-Ashtiani, 43, was sentenced to death by two different courts in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz in separate trials in 2006.

The first death sentence, by hanging, for her involvement in the murder of her husband, was commuted to a 10-year jail term by an appeals court in 2007.

But the second, by stoning, was on a charge of adultery levelled over several relationships, notably with the man convicted of her husband's murder, and was upheld by another appeals court the same year.

Her sentence has sparked an outcry in Western countries. It was temporarily suspended by Iranian judicial authorities but media reports suggested it was now imminent.

Source: AFP, November 3, 2010


Canada first lady urges Iran to free woman condemned to die

OTTAWA, November 3, 2010 (AFP) - Canada's First Lady Maureen Harper on Wednesday condemned Iran's "senseless and continual" disregard for women's rights and called for the release of a woman sentenced to death.

"We are deeply troubled by the flagrant disregard of women's rights in Iran," Harper said in an open letter. "In particular, the most recent and public case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani is an affront to any sense of moral or human decency and is symbolic of the plight of Iranian women."

In the letter, also signed by Indigo bookstore chain owner Heather Reisman, Harper expressed "grave concern" over what she described as "unfair, undue legal processes faced by women in Iran" and "repugnant sentences, such as death by stoning."

Addressing Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad directly, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrote: "We urge you to take a progressive step towards improving the lives of Iranian women, mothers, daughters and sisters by unconditionally releasing Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani.

"Certainly, this would be welcomed by women around the world as seen as a deeply symbolic gesture toward the betterment of all Iranian women.

Mohammadi-Ashtiani was sentenced to death by two different courts in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz in separate trials in 2006.

The first death sentence, by hanging, for her involvement in the murder of her husband, was commuted to a 10-year jail term by an appeals court in 2007.

But the second, by stoning, was on a charge of adultery leveled over several relationships, notably with the man convicted of her husband's murder, and was upheld by another appeals court the same year.

Exiled Iranian human rights activist Mina Ahadi triggered a new outcry in the West after voicing fears that Mohammadi-Ashtiani could be executed as early as Wednesday -- which Tehran denied.

Source: AFP, November 3, 2010
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