Woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery could be hanged after international outcry

A woman who was to be stoned to death in Iran on an adultery conviction could be hanged instead.



Authorities said today they were moving ahead with plans to execute the woman but are reconsidering what punishment to carry out.



Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is already in prison serving a ten-year sentence on a separate conviction for the murder of her husband.

Outcry: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, may be hanged instead said Iranian officials

Her case has generated international outrage and last July Iranian officials suspended plans to carry out her death sentence on the adultery conviction.

A senior judiciary official said experts were studying whether the punishment of stoning could be changed to hanging.

Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the head of justice department of East Azerbaijan province, where Ashtiani is jailed said: ' There is no haste. ... We are waiting to see whether we can carry out the execution of a person sentenced to stoning by hanging or not.

'As soon as the result (of the investigation) is obtained, we will carry out the sentence.'

The charge of a married woman having an illicit relationship requires a punishment of stoning, he said.

He said judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani ordered a halt to stoning in order to allow Islamic experts to investigate whether the punishment can be altered in Ashtiani's case.

She was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery after suffering years of abuse at the hands of her drug addict husband.



Ashtiani's lawyer said she was allegedly beaten and sold for sex by opium-addict Ebrahim Ghaderzade.