[Pak Daily Times] Foreign countries should not interfere in Iran's legal system and stop trying to turn the case of a woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery into a human rights issue, Iranian government spokesperson said on Tuesday.The case of the 43-year-old mother of two, condemned to death for illicit sex and charged with involvement in her husband's murder, provoked an international outcry, with Brazil offering her asylum and the Vatican speaking out against the punishment.
The spokesperson said that the furore was based on false information about Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's case. "Unfortunately, (they are) defending a person who is being tried for murder and adultery, which are two major crimes of this lady and should not become a human rights issue," Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference.
"If releasing all those who have committed murder is to be perceived as a human rights issue, then all European countries should release all the murderers in their countries." The stoning case has further strained relations between Iran and the West which accuses the Islamic Republic of seeking nuclear weapons.
In France, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday he was appalled to hear about the sentence. "This is barbaric beyond words. We condemn such acts, which have no justification under any moral or religious code," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.