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"An Iranian woman, found guilty of adultery and sentenced to stoning in 2006, will not be stoned, according to the Iranian government. But it is unclear if she will still be sentenced to death.  Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was first punished in May 2006 with flogging for having an &amp;quot;illicit relationship&amp;quot; with two men after her husband died, but in September 2006, she was found guilty of adultery when he was still living, as well. But what does Iran define as &amp;quot;adultery?&amp;quot; In Iran, adultery is considered a &amp;quot;crime against God&amp;quot; and is punishable by 100 lashes for unmarried men and women, but married offenders are sentenced to death by stoning.  Cases of adultery must be proven either by a confession or by the testimony of witnesses \u2013 four men or three men and two women, according to the Human Rights Watch. During the second trial, Ashtiani retracted her confession, saying she had been forced to into it, and has continued to deny the adultery charge, since. I can&amp;#039;t help but wonder, though, what the court defines as &amp;quot;adultery.&amp;quot; I haven&amp;#039;t been able to find specifics on Ashtiani&amp;#039;s crime, but I have a feeling it may not have been anywhere near as bad as what Westerners might consider adultery. Not that it would make stoning her okay. I don&amp;#039;t want to suggest Iranian women don&amp;#039;t have extramarital affairs, that would be patronizing. In Iran, just like everywhere else, people have sex whether they are allowed to or not. But I wonder if her crime was as serious as that. She was already lashed 99 times for having &amp;quot;extramarital relations,&amp;quot; which is no crime in the U.S. But I can only wonder whether that means sex, hand holding, un-chaperoned visits or more. Of course, the specifics don&amp;#039;t matter. Her two young children, who haven&amp;#039;t seen her in four years, are the ones lobbying for her to live. And stoning is such a heinous punishment, no matter what the crime.  - Alexandra Gekas, Associate Editor "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/news/a45068/what-did-woman-do-to-get-stoning-sentence-2472/>