PARIS – France’s first lady Carla Bruni was labelled a “prostitute” by Iranian state-run media yesterday over her support for a woman who faced death by stoning for adultery.
The wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the stoning sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, which Iran suspended after an international outcry. Ms Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, could still face execution by hanging.
The Kayhannewspaper, whose editor is a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, described Bruni as a "prostitute" in an article headlined "French prostitutes enter the human rights uproar".
“Although Bruni, the morally corrupt singer and actress of Italian [origin], was able to break the Sarkozy family and marry the French president, lately new reports have emerged about her affair with a singer,” said the weekend report in Kayhan.
The French president’s office declined to comment.
The media attack was in response to an open letter Ms Bruni wrote to Ms Ashtiani that was printed in several French news outlets last week. “How to remain silent after learning of the sentence against you?” Ms Bruni-Sarkozy wrote, adding that the stoning would “deeply wound all women, all children, all those who have feelings of humanity”.
“Deep within your jail cell, know that my husband will plead your cause tirelessly and that France will not abandon you,” she wrote.
Ms Ashtiani was convicted in May 2006 of having an “illicit relationship” with two men after the murder of her husband, and was sentenced to 99 lashes.
Later that year, she was convicted of adultery and sentenced to be stoned, even though she retracted a confession which she claims was made under duress.
Tehran last month stayed her stoning, but authorities say she has also been convicted of being an accomplice in her husband’s murder. In a purported confession aired on state TV early this month, Ms Ashtiani admitted to unwittingly playing a role in the 2005 killing. She could also face a separate death sentence in that case.
Her lawyer denies Ms Ashtiani was ever charged with murder or brought to trial over her husband’s killing. The woman’s previous lawyer, who brought the case to the world’s attention in his blog, fled the country and received asylum in Norway after Iranian authorities began to pressure him and his family. Mr Kian said he, too, was coming under pressure. He said authorities broke into his home on Sunday. – (PA)