The film was so depressing. I have a movie review site, the film judge - if anyone wants to check it out. In my review of the movie I said:
"Yes, I know the title gives it away but the stoning scene is just too much. The whole process, from her walking, to being buried waist deep, to her final breath, takes about 20 minutes. It is hardcore stuff! Maybe the scene was this way because the audience has already been preparing itself from the start…so the creators felt the need to go a little overboard. If they were going for shock effect, the story in itself is already disheartening. Is it not enough to murder an innocent woman? Do you have to show every strike?"
During the whole 20 minute scene I felt sick to my stomach, but when I got the invitation to join this Facebook Group, it was as if someone punched square in the stomach. Ashtiani has been held in prison in the Iranian city of Tabriz since 2005. In 2006 she was sentenced 99 lashes for having "illicit relationships." It was later alleged that Ashtiani and her boyfriend had killed her husband.
Women's rights activist Soheila Vahdati says the court "illegally" reopened the adultery case against Ashtiani following the murder accusation. According to Vahdati, Ashtiani was sentenced to be stoned to death for the same alleged act of adultery for which she earlier had been convicted to 99 lashes.
According to Article 83 of the Laws of Islamic Punishment in Iran, ratified in 1991, the penalty for adultery is death by stoning. However, murder is not punishable in Iran by stoning. Murderers who receive the death sentence are hanged.
Her son and daughter started an international campaign to overturn her sentence. In 2010, widespread media attention was brought to her case after the media reported that she was to be executed by stoning. Protests were held in D.C. and London. Hilary Clinton made a powerful statement as well. Iranian authorities initially denied that this method of execution would be used, but Iranian authorities temporarily suspended a sentence of death by stoning in September 2010. Her fate is unclear.
I would have joined the Facebook group even if I hadn't watched The Stoning of Soraya M. However, since I had watched the movie I felt an obligation to invite all of my friends to join the group too. At the time I watched the movie, I felt like the 20 minute stoning scene was too much. Today, I am grateful the filmmakers made me sit through it. I resisted the temptation to fast forward and thankfully it appears that Ashtiani is going to be able to "skip to the next chapter."
Protests in London
If you feel like crying then watch this video...
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