— BBC: “Somali adulterer stoned to death” — “Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth.”
— “Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka.”
— “An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby.”
— “Islamist groups run much of southern Somalia, while the UN-backed government only control parts of the capital.”
— “This is the third time Islamists have stoned a person to death for adultery in the past year.”
— “Al-Shabab official Sheikh Suldan Aala Mohamed said Mr Abdirahman had confessed to adultery before an Islamic court.”
— ” ‘He was screaming and blood was pouring from his head during the stoning. After seven minutes he stopped moving,’ an eyewitness told the BBC.”
— “The BBC’s Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says that if the woman is also killed, her baby would be given to relatives to look after.”
— Jakarta Globe: “Stoning, Caning Are Now the Law in Aceh, Local Legislator Says”
— Jakarta Globe reports: “A controversial bill that includes a provision for the stoning to death of adulterers is now officially law, even without the signature of the Aceh governor, a local councilor said on Thursday.”
— “The draft of the Qanun Jinayat Code, a set of bylaws that replaces elements of the Criminal Code with Shariah provisions for Muslims, was endorsed by the Aceh Legislative Council on Sept. 14.”
— “The measures call for the stoning of adulterers and 100 lashes for anyone caught engaging in premarital sex, among its other punishments.”
A woman walks past by a sign advising people to wear Muslim attire at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh. A local lawmaker says a controverisial bill allowing Shariah-style stoning and caning has gone into effect in the province. (Photo: Heri Juanda, AP)
— Indonesia’s Aceh passes law on stoning to death
— AP reports: “Adulterers can be stoned to death and homosexuality is punishable by steep prison terms under a new law passed unanimously by lawmakers in Indonesia’s devoutly Muslim Aceh province Monday.”
— “The law, which reinforces the province’s already strict Islamic laws, is to go into effect within 30 days. Its passage comes two weeks before a new assembly led by the moderate Aceh Party is sworn in following a heavy defeat of conservative Muslim parties in local elections.”
— “Aceh, where Islam first arrived in Indonesia from Saudi Arabia centuries ago, enjoys semiautonomy from the central government. A long-running Islamic insurgency in the province ended in 2005 in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 130,000 there.”
— “A version of Islamic law, or Shariah, that had been introduced in Aceh in 2001 already bans gambling, drinking alcohol and makes it compulsory for women to wear headscarves. Dozens of public canings have been carried out by the local Shariah police against violators of that law”
— “… the most hotly disputed article was on adultery and states that offending married couples can be punished by a minimum of 100 lashings and a maximum of stoning to death.”
— “‘The stoning to death is the toughest punishment included in the (new) Shariah law,’ said Bahrom Rasjid, one of the drafters and a member of the United Development Party, after its passage.”
— “It also imposes severe prison terms for other behavior considered morally unacceptable, including homosexuality, which will be punishable by public lashings and more than eight years in prison.”
— “Aceh Vice Governor Muhamad Nazar said that even though his office opposed the clause on stoning to death it has no legal power to block it. “Whatever law is passed we have to enforce it,’ he said.”
— AFP report – Indonesia: Adulterers face stoning — “The law replaces elements of the civil code with sharia or Islamic law. It stipulates punishments of up to 100 lashes of the cane for an unmarried person who commits adultery and death by stoning for a married person.”
— AFP: “The Islamic code was introduced under a broad autonomy package granted by Indonesia’s central Government in 2001 to pacify the hardline Muslim region’s demand for independence.”
Iranian man to be stoned to death despite moratorium — Daily Telegraph reports:
— “An Iranian man convicted of adultery is to be stoned to death despite a moratorium being agreed by the judiciary last year.”
— “Naghi Ahmadi was sentenced to death by stoning in June last year in the northern city of Sari, after he visited a married woman’s home in the night while her husband was away working in another city, the Sarmayeh newspaper reported”
— “A year ago the judiciary said it would scrap the punishment in Iran’s new Islamic penal code”
During the film, the characters are shown as using Islamic law as their defense and their basis for their false accusations against Soraya M. and for having the village stone her to death.
Author Freidoune Sahebjam has been a portrait in courage in getting the story of Soraya M. to the public. “Condemned to death by the Khomeini regime following an article he published in the Western press in 1979, Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam returned undercover to his native land in 1987. There he met Soraya’s Aunt Zahra, who told him the full story and introduced him to Soraya’ s father and the mayor of the village, among others.”
On Saturday, June 20, a public awareness event was held in the busy nightlife center of Washington DC’s Georgetown to inform the public about the upcoming release of the film “The Stoning of Soraya M.” and to make them aware of the broader war on women by religious extremists and misogynists. The film “The Stoning of Soraya M.” is scheduled to premiere across the country – mostly on Friday, June 26 – and tells the true story of an Iranian woman who was stoned to death by religious extremists.
R.E.A.L. estimated that several thousands of people passed by its public awareness event on the Georgetown street corner of Wisconsin and M Streets NW, and that materials were handed out to 600 individuals about the film “The Stoning of Soraya M.” and the ongoing struggle for women’s human rights. With the public awareness event beginning at 6 PM ET, numerous visitors also saw the signs and placards (that were frequently held up high in the air) on this subject during the summer daily savings time, including busloads of visitors.
Reaching out to DC public on War on Women and Film "The Stoning of Soraya M."
Public Awareness Event in DC’s Georgetown on “The Stoning of Soraya M.”
WASHINGTON DC Washington, DC E Street Cinema
6/26/09 555 11th St NW Washington, DC 20004 202-452-7672 Get Directions — this is the site a block away from FBI HQ, and a few blocks from Metro Center metro stop
MARYLAND
Bethesda, MD
Bethesda Row Cinema 6/26/09
7235 Woodmont Ave Bethesda, MD 20814 301-652-7273 Get Directions
— this is close to a large parking lot and about 6 blocks from the Bethesda metro stop
Parking:
In the immediate vicinity of the Bethesda Row Cinema there are three major parking lots. There are two outdoor ones across the street from the theatre and one large parking garage between Woodmont and Arlington on Bethesda Avenue. The small lots have very few 9-hour to 15-hour meters, and they fill up very quickly. These meters are silver, as opposed to the blue, dark gray and copper ones which range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. In the large parking garage between Woodmont and Arlington the first two levels (G-1 and 1) have 2-hour meters, while levels 2 through 5 have 15-hour meters. Parking is free in the lots on Saturday and Sunday, while street parking is free Sunday only. Parking Information
Metro & Trolley:
The theatre is minutes by foot from the Bethesda Metro station (on the Woodmont side), off the Red line. The Bethesda 8 trolley can be boarded at the Metro station; it takes riders on a scenic tour of downtown Bethesda before dropping them off directly across the street from the theatre. The trolley is free of charge.
VIRGINIA Shirlington 7 2772 South Randolph St.
Arlington, VA 22206
Showtimes: 1-888-AMC-4FUN (1-888-262-4386) Get Directions
