TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A rights group says the televised "confession" of an Iranian woman awaiting execution by stoning for adultery was "orchestrated" by authorities.
In an Iranian television broadcast, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani appears to implicate herself in the murder of her husband, an Amnesty International release said Thursday.
Televised "confessions" have repeatedly been used by the authorities to incriminate individuals in custody, the group charges, and many have later retracted the "confessions," saying they were coerced to make them, sometimes under torture or other ill-treatment.
Last week Ashtiani's lawyer, Javid Houtan Kiyan, submitted a 35-page request for a judicial review of her case.
"It appears that Iran's authorities have orchestrated this 'confession' following the call for a judicial review and now appear to be inventing new charges of murdering her husband," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director at Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa program, said.
"Having … Ashtiani broadcast in this manner calls into question the independence of the judiciary, at least vis-a-vis the state broadcaster, and its ability to adhere to Iran's own laws," Sahraoui said.
"If the judiciary in Iran is to be taken seriously, this 'confession' needs to be disregarded and assurances given that it will not affect the review of her case," he said.
