Berlin, July 26: An arrest warrant has been issued for Iranian lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, and his wife and brother have already been arrested, opposition websites reported Monday.
Mostafaei is the lawyer of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who is convicted of adultery and murdering her husband and sentenced to be stoned to death.
The lawyer was to be arrested during the weekend but could not be found, opposition websites claimed. They said his wife and brother were arrested on Saturday.
The judiciary has not confirmed or denied the reports.
The sentence against the 43-year-old Mohammadi Ashtiani provoked an international outcry with several Western countries and human rights organizations calling on Iran to revise it.
Judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani reportedly ordered a delay of her sentence earlier this month, but insisted that Iran would not submit to international pressure.
The judiciary also said that Mohammadi Ashtiani was not only convicted of adultery but also of killing her husband in 2006.
Iran’s judiciary previously ordered the courts to halt stoning sentences due to negative international impact and to use alternative punishments instead, but some courts continue to issue the sentence, especially in rural provinces.
During the stoning, men are buried up to their waist and women up to their necks and then stones are thrown against their head and body until they die. But if a person manages to escape from the hole, they are free to go.
–Agencies