Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani Will Be Lashed Instead Of Stoned

VIA AP

An Iranian woman who had faced death by stoning for adultery has now received a new sentence of 99 lashes after a British newspaper ran a picture of an unveiled woman mistakenly identified as her, the woman's son said Monday.

There was no official confirmation of the new sentence. The son, Sajjad Qaderzadeh, 22, said he did not know whether the new lashing sentence had been carried out yet, but heard about it from a prisoner who had recently left the detention facility where his mother is being held.

The lawyer who once represented Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Iran said from Paris that the situation was not clear.

'Publishing the photo provided a judge an excuse to sentence my poor mother to 99 lashes on the charge of taking a picture unveiled,' Qaderzadeh told The Associated Press.

The Times of London said in its Monday edition it had apologized for the photo, but added that the new sentence 'is simply a pretext.'