Iran spy charges for Germans over Ashtiani stoning case

Ms Ashtiani's case has sparked an international outcry

Iran
has charged two Germans with spying after they interviewed the son of a
woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, reports say.

The charges come a day after they appeared on Iranian state
TV and said they had been "tricked" by an activist in Germany into
speaking with the family of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

The pair were arrested in Tabriz, north-west Iran, in October.

They have been identified only as a reporter and a photographer.

Germany has said it is doing all it can to try to secure their release.

TV 'confessions'

"The espionage charge for the two German citizens who came to
Iran to stage propaganda and spying has been approved," Malekajdar
Sharifi, the head of the judiciary in Eastern Azerbaijan province, was
quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

Held on death row in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan since 2006
43 years old; two children
May 2006: 99 lashes for "illicit relationship" with two men following the death of her husband
September 2006: Case reopened during trial of a man accused of
murdering her husband; convicted of "adultery while married"; sentenced
to death by stoning despite retracting a confession
8 July 2010: Iran suspends stoning sentence, says case will be reviewed
11 July: East Azerbaijan judiciary says she was also convicted for conspiracy to murder husband
24 July: One of her lawyers flees Iran
7 August: Guardian publishes her statement that she was never convicted on murder charge

Last month, Iran said the two had confessed to working as reporters in the country without the proper visas.

They travelled to Tabriz, in Iran's East Azerbaijan province,
where they interviewed the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani - the
43-year-old Iranian woman whose sentence to be stoned for adultery has
sparked international condemnation.

In Monday's broadcast, one of the Germans said he intended to
sue activist Mina Ahadi, an Iranian exile living in Germany who has led
the campaign to save Ms Ashtiani from execution.

"I accept that I made a mistake. Since I had no information
on the case, I was tricked by Ms Ahadi," the second German man was
quoted as saying.

A spokesman for Germany's foreign ministry said it was trying to verify the reports.

'I am a sinner'

Monday's broadcast on state television also included a woman identified as Ms Ashtiani who said: "I am a sinner."

Her face was blurred and her words were voiced over in what the TV report said was a translation into Farsi from Azeri.

Ms Ashtiani's stoning sentence was suspended in July this
year, but last month, reports emerged that Iranian courts were instead
considering hanging her for the murder of her husband.

Ms Ashtiani's lawyers insist she is innocent.

The report also broadcast purported statements by two men
whose faces were blurred that state TV identified as Ms Ashtiani's son,
Sajjad Qaderzadeh, and her lawyer, Houtan Kian, both of whom were
arrested last month.

In the broadcast, Mr Qaderzadeh retracted his previous
allegations that his mother was tortured, and criticised Mr Kian and Ms
Ashtiani's previous lawyer - who fled to Norway this summer - for
publicising the case.

Iran's judiciary says a final decision has yet to be made
about her case and that it is now focusing on the murder conspiracy
conviction, rather than the adultery charges.

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