Tabriz, Iran: An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning was allowed out on prison leave to have dinner with her daughter and son on Saturday, hours after he had appealed to the judiciary to spare her life.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's sentence to be stoned to death was suspended after an international outcry, but she still faces possible execution by hanging.
Her son Sajjad Ghaderzadehm, who faces his own court case after talking to two German reporters about his mother's sentence, told an officially sanctioned news conference his mother had violated Islamic law but called for compassion and forgiveness.
"In my opinion my mother is also guilty but since we have lost our father we do not want to lose our mother too. Consequently, we ask for a commutation of the penalty," he told reporters in the city of Tabriz, in northwestern Iran.
Later on Saturday, Ashtiani who is accused of adultery and being complicit in her husband's murder, was granted a short prison leave. She had dinner with her daughter and son at the same place where Ghaderzadeh had earlier talked to reporters.
It was not immediately clear when Ashtiani would return to prison and reporters were not allowed to talk to her. The mother spoke to her children in the Tukish dialect of their home province.
Ghaderzadeh told the news conference: "The stoning sentence is on the file but it may not be carried out. At least this is what we are hoping."
Two reporters from the German tabloid Bild am Sonntag were arrested in October while interviewing Ghaderzadeh after entering Iran on tourist visas. Berlin has called for them to be released.
Ghaderzadeh was released on $40,000 bail while a court considers his case.
Iranian officials say Ashtiani's case is purely a matter for the judiciary. It has become an international cause and more than 80 world artists, academics and politicians have called for her release.
