Human Rights Watch has received
reports that a court in the northern Iranian city of Rasht has upheld a sentence
of death by stoning against Mohammad Ali Navid Khamami. The reports also
indicate that the sentence, which Iranian judges have sometimes imposed for
"moral offenses" such as adultery, will be carried out imminently.
Rooz Online, a Persian- and English-language website staffed by Iranian
journalists living outside of Iran, and the group Iran Human Rights both said
that they have received credible information that the sentence against Khamami
will be implemented shortly.
If carried out, this would be the second stoning execution in Iran, and in
Rasht, in 2009. Rooz Online and Iran Human Rights reported in March that a court
in Rasht convicted Vali Azad of adultery and sentenced him to death by stoning.
The sentence was reportedly carried out shortly afterwards.
In December 2008, two men were reportedly stoned to death in Mashhad, Iran. The
stonings were later confirmed by Iranian authorities.
"Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances," said Joe
Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Stoning is a
particularly cruel form of capital punishment that grossly offends the inherent
dignity of all human beings."