The lawyer jailed for defending Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, the Tabriz woman sentenced to be stoned for adultery, was freed Monday after spending three years in prison.
Javid Houtan-Kian was arrested in 2010 while he and Ashtiani’s son were talking with two German journalists about the case.
The regime was incensed because Houtan-Kian was helping to make the case an international sensation to the immense embarrassment of the Islamic Republic.
The lawyer was convicted of promoting adverse publicity for the country and sentenced to
prison.
While Houtan-Kian paid a high price, his efforts paid off for his client. Ashtiani’s stoning sentence was vacated. She remains jailed today. The state has not decided what to do with her but it is generally assumed she will just be left in jail for the rest of her life.
Most families are embarrassed by adultery charges and remain silent. But Ashtiani’s children decided not to be silent and to seek the maximum attention possible for her case. With the help of Houtan-Kian and another lawyer who eventually fled the country, they made Ashtiani’s case into an international cause celebre that drew in international celebrities and other figures, such as the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to plead for Ashtiani’s life.
The hullabaloo over the case developed into widespread criticism for the regime that painted the Islamic Republic as barbaric.
Along with Houtan-Kian and Ashtiani’s son, the regime also arrested the two German journalists they were speaking with. The Germans were held several months. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle later said they were only freed when he agreed to come to Tehran and be photographed meeting with President Ahmadi-nejad.
