They look as if they might be film extras, or perhaps a period drawing room farce. But these women were among thousands enjoying the last day of the first Vintage at Goodwood festival.Televised 'confession' of Iranian stoning convict causes outrage
August 13th, 2010 by Mac
Alarm over the plight of an Iranian mother-of-two, who had been sentenced to death by stoning following a conviction for adultery, was reignited yesterday after she unexpectedly appeared on state television seemingly implicating herself in the murder of her husband.
The Foreign Office said it was "appalled" by the broadcast, and deeply concerned by the claim of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's defence lawyer that the 43-year-old's "confession" was forced out of her after she had been tortured in prison in Tabriz where she was being held.
The lawyer warned that her appearance might signal an imminent execution, perhaps by hanging. However, Al Jazeera in Iran reported a judiciary source saying she would probably not be put to death during Ramadan which runs until 9 September.
Iran announced last month that the death-by-stoning sentence had been suspended in Ms Ashtiani's case. However, that did not mean she was spared from execution, and the regime has continued to come under fierce pressure from international human rights groups and several governments – in particular the US government – to reduce the severity of her punishment.
Amnesty International was among those challenging Iran over the television appearance, during which her words spoken in Azeri were dubbed over by a Farsi-speaking interpreter, and her face was partially obscured, making it impossible to determine if it was really Ms Ashtiani.
"This so-called confession forms part of a growing catalogue of other forced confessions and self-incriminating statements made by many detainees in the past year," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's Middle East deputy director.
"Statements made in such televised exchanges should have no bearing on Iran's legal system, or the call to review her case. This latest video shows nothing more than the lack of evidence against Sakineh Ashtiani." Viewers in Iran heard Ms Ashtiani explain the circumstances of her late husband's death. "I established telephone contacts with a man in 2005. He deceived me by his language... He told me 'let's kill your husband.' I could not believe at all that my husband would be killed. I thought he was joking... Later I learned that killing was his profession."
She said the man, allegedly a cousin, murdered him by electrocution as she watched. "He came [to our house] and brought all the stuff. He brought electrical devices, plus wire and gloves."
Brazil, which in recent months has stood out among nations in cultivating closer ties with Iran, joined the chorus of countries unsettled by the case of Ms Ashtiani. It has gone so far as to publicly offer her asylum.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, this week called on Iran to stop implementing the death penalty so freely, including for convicted homosexuals and political dissidents.
By attempting to portray Ms Ashtiani as a murderer – or at least an accomplice to murder – rather than an adulterer, Iran may be seeking to blunt criticism from the US, where most states allow the death penalty in homicide cases. The new narrative has been contradicted by Ms Ashtiani herself who has claimed in newspaper interviews that she had previously been acquitted of murder.
Mrs Clinton said the US "urges the Iranian government to halt these executions in accordance with its obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners an imprisoned human rights defenders".
Iranian state television has been the vehicle for numerous public "confessions" by individuals who have fallen foul of the Islamic regime.
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Perhaps Andy Murray should sack his coaches more often. Although his run at the Los Angeles Open eventually ended in defeat to Sam Querrey late on Sunday night, the 23-year-old Scot was still able to reflect on a week that saw him reach his first final since the Australian Open six months ago. Considering he had just been through the emotional turmoil of parting company with Miles Maclagan, Murray could take heart from his performances at a tournament in which he had not intended to take part. The world No 4 had planned to make his post-Wimbledon reappearance at next week's Toronto Masters, but accepted a late invitation to take a wild card into Los Angeles in preference to extending his mid-season training camp in Miami. Murray reached the final with victories over Tim Smyczek (world No 171), Alejandro Falla (No 61) and Feliciano Lopez (No 24). He had a match point against Querrey before losing 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 after two hours and 22 minutes as the world No 20 successfully defended his title. Querrey broke in the third game but Murray levelled to 4-4 and took the first set four games later when his opponent double-faulted. The 6ft 6in Californian smashed his racket in frustration, but recovered to win a tight second set. At 4-5 and 30-40 Murray had a match point but missed a backhand down the line. Querrey won the tie-break 7-2. The only break of serve in the decider came when Murray netted an attempted drop shot as he served at 2-3. Murray, who put 66 per cent of his first serves in court, had a brief chance when Querrey served for the match at 5-3, but at 30-40 the American hit a forehand winner and then served it out. Although Murray had not dropped a set in his four previous meetings with Querrey, he was satisfied with his progress. "If you take the circumstances into consideration I have to be happy with getting to the final," he said. "I had a good week. I enjoyed it. Each match, I felt better physically." Jez Green, one of Murray's physical trainers, and Andy Ireland, his physiotherapist, were with him in Los Angeles and both will travel on to Toronto. They were joined in California by Murray's friend and occasional hitting partner, Carlos Mier, who used to be his room-mate at the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona. Murray is not expected to appoint a new coach until after the US Open. Darren Cahill, who used to work with Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, has been linked with the Scot and may yet join up with him, despite comments the Australian made to ESPN, for whom he works as a part-time analyst. "I've got my ESPN duties and also work with Adidas," Cahill said. "I can't be full-time for anyone." Murray, however, is considering a structure in which a senior figure like Cahill would take overall charge of his coaching without having to tour with him week-in and week-out. It is now nine months since Murray won a title and he is in imminent danger of being overtaken by Robin Soderling in the world rankings. Having won in Canada last year, Murray will be defending 1,000 ranking points in Toronto next week. Soderling, who at No 5 is 470 points behind Murray, has nothing to defend in Toronto, which means that the Scot will be overtaken by the Swede if he fails to make the final on Sunday week.
Rescuers yesterday continued to search through the rubble of a town devastated by the worst landslide to hit China in six decades, in spite of fears that a lake created by the disaster could burst its banks. More than 700 people died when mud and rocks engulfed the small town of Zhouqu in northwest Gansu province. More than 1,000 people are still missing.
Voters queued from dawn to cast their votes in the mountainous central African nation yesterday. But the Rwandan poll is the latest in a series of African elections where the outcome has been carefully pre-arranged.
A Russian man trying to win the Sauna World Championships died after collapsing with severe burns in the final stage of an event that required contestants to sit in a 110C room as water was tossed on to a searing stove, officials and witnesses said.
"All around us, everything was on fire," says Vladimir Anuryev. "Houses, trees, the ground itself – it was all in flames. Even the asphalt on the road seemed to be on fire. It was like descending into hell."
Rising water levels were last night threatening one of Pakistan's largest dams, forcing the authorities to evacuate more people even as raging floods surged south into the country's heartland, destroying communities and ruining livelihoods. Officials in the country's north-west said unprecedented flooding had caused the water level at Warsak Dam near Peshawar to soar, already prompting the voluntary evacuation of some of the city's residents and forcing the authorities to draw up plans to move those who sought to stay. "If needed, forced evacuation will be started," said Adnan Khan of the Disaster Management Authority of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Even while waters recede in some parts of the north-west, it is far from clear that the country's misery is over. Aid agencies estimate more than 3.2m people have now been affected by the nation's most severe floods in recent history and the water that has caused such chaos is now reportedly moving south, sweeping into Punjab province.
A man is believed to have murdered his partner and two young daughters before taking his own life at a house in Hampshire yesterday.
A carousel of wonders, featuring intricate animatronic insects and larger animals, recently appeared in the unlikely location of Milton Keynes courtesy of arts organisation Artichoke and French theatrical engineering company La Machine - responsible for The Sultan's Elephant and La Princesse.