Mohammad Mostafaei’s family arrested in Iran
The lawyer defending Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani himself is hiding for arrest while his wife and brother-in-law are held by Iranian authorities. The authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the well known Iranian lawyer who is defending Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death by stoning.
Update:
Mohammad Mostafaei asks for asylum in Norway
Lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei’s office in Tehran was ransacked, and he was interrogated in Evin prison for four hours on Saturday over his human rights activities and involvement in the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the 43-year-old mother of two who was convicted of adultery and whose plight in Iran has drawn international attention since her children launched a campaign for her release almost a month ago.
He was released, then called back for further questioning before being set free. Authorities then issued an arrest warrant. When they were unable to find him the authorities arrested his wife, Fereshteh Halimi and her brother Farhad Halimi to try to force him to surrender. However, it is still unclear whether Mostafaei has been arrested or he has managed to evade officials.
Mohammadi Ashtiani’s sentence is not Mostafaei’s first stoning case, he has defended many others against execution by stoning but it was Sakineh’s story which took the world attention beginning this month. Mostafaei initially wrote an open letter about Sakineh’s death by stoning after her sentence was handed down. He then tried to publicise her case by giving interviews to international media and helping her children launch the campaign for their mother’s release.
Unlike his well-known Iranian colleagues Shirin Ebadi, a peace Nobel laureate and Shadi Sadr, a winner of Human Rights Defenders Tulip awards 2009 who were forced to leave Iran, Mostafaei was still working inside Iran although he was arrested for a while last year.
Source: The Guardian
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