Vatican says it is in touch
with Iran over stoning case
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Sept. 5 Italy (AFP) – The Vatican said on Sunday it was in contact with Tehran over the case of an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery amid a global diplomatic push for clemency.
The Vatican said it was using "diplomatic channels" to intervene in the case, while Italy urged Iran for a "act of clemency".
Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, is facing the death penalty after being convicted of having an extramarital relationship in a case that has sparked an international campaign for her release.
"The Holy See is following this affair with attention and commitment," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement issued in response to journalists' questions on the matter.
"The position of the Church, opposed to the death penalty, is known and stoning is a particularly brutal form," he said.
Intervention by the head of the Roman Catholic Church on humanitarian questions takes place through diplomatic channels, and this sort of action has been taken a number of times in the past, the statement said.
Pope Benedict XVI did not make any mention of the case at the traditional Angelus blessing on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Sunday called on Tehran to grant clemency in the case, the ANSA news agency reported.
While reiterating his "full respect for Iranian sovereignty," Frattini said "only an act of clemency could save the life of this person."
He added that contacts had taken place with the Iranian embassy in Rome.
Frattini also recently said he had arranged to meet his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki on the sidelines of the forthcoming UN General Assembly in New York.
The plight of Mohammadi-Ashtiani, who was also convicted of being an accomplice in her husband's death, which she has denied, has caused a global uproar.
Tehran meanwhile has provisionally suspended the death sentence.
On Saturday, Mohammadi-Ashtiani's son Sajjad said she had also been sentenced to 99 lashes for a photo of her without a headscarf published in a British newspaper.
A French petition has been signed by two former French presidents and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
A hardline Iranian newspaper branded Bruni-Sarkozy a prostitute for signing the petition, with the French government describing the slur as "unacceptable".
France has urged the European Union to threaten new sanctions against the Iranian regime over the stoning case, while EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said talks were taking place with Tehran.
Mohammadi-Ashtiani's son called on the international community to continue the campaign, and appealed to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to use his country's ties with Iran to assist in her release.
Lula has already tried in vain to convince Iran to let Mohammadi-Ashtiani take asylum in Brazil instead of being executed.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/09/2010 16:19]