TEHRAN, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Iran said Saturday it is freeing two German reporters arrested while interviewing the son of a woman who had been sentenced to death by stoning.
Marcus Hellwig and Jens Koch, reporters for the German newspaper Bild, were arrested in Tabriz in October as they spoke to the son of Sakineh Ashtiani, who was facing death by stoning for adultery. The sentence was commuted, but she could be hanged on charges of murdering her husband.
The BBC reported German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is heading to Tehran to bring the reporters home.
The Iranian Students News Agency said Hellwig and Koch were sentenced to 20 months for "acting against national security" after entering Iran illegally on tourist visas. But the jail term was commuted to a $50,000 fine in the name of "Islamic compassion."
Iranian TV last year showed Ashtiani admitting her part in her husband's murder and taking part in a re-enactment of it.
