An Iranian woman who faces death by stoning re-enacted the alleged murder of her husband on television Friday, where she also told a broadcast audience that she was complicit in the man's death.
Widely viewed as a televised gambit designed to shake off Western criticism over the stoning sentence, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's apparent re-enactment has only inflamed outrage about Iran's human rights record.
The broadcast confession, which ran on Iran's Press TV, marks the fourth time that Ashtiani has appeared on television.
The 43-year-old Ashtiani has had a death sentence hanging over her head for four years after she was convicted of adultery. However, she later retracted a confession that was attributed to her, saying it had been made under duress.
Complicating matters, her lawyer, Houtan Kian, said that Ashtiani was never put on trial for the death of her husband. It's also believed that the conviction was only announced after the case made headlines globally.
Under state law, Iranian officials could use the murder confession to justify death by hanging.
During the English-language broadcast on Friday, the mother of two was shown travelling from prison to her house, which is located near the northwestern city of Tabriz.
Once at the home, she depicted the December 2005 killing. An actor was hired to play her deceased husband.
During the broadcast, the 43-year-old Ashtiani wore a black and beige scarf over her hair and explained how she was having an extra-marital affair with another man. He has since been identified as Isa Taheri.
She also enacted how she administered an injection which rendered her husband unconscious. With her husband out cold, Taheri came to the home and electrocuted her husband until he was dead, the confession alleges.
Amnesty International said the broadcast was a violation of international legal standards because Ashtiani implicates herself in a killing.
"If the authorities are seeking to use this 'confession' to try to construct a new case against her, for a crime that she's already been tried and sentenced for, we would condemn this in the strongest terms," said Amnesty International's Philip Luther in a statement.
The broadcast also showed close-ups of the dead husband's body, which appeared to be covered with burns.
Ashtiani was first convicted in 2006 for having an "illicit relationship" with a pair of men following the death of her husband. That "crime" carried an initial sentence of 99 lashes.
However, later in 2006, a court apparently convicted her of adultery, and sentenced her to be stoned.
But when the story spread internationally and caused shock and outrage, Iranian officials put the sentence on hold pending a review by the country's highest court.
A month later, it was announced that Ashtiani had also confessed in the death of her husband.
In October, two German journalists were arrested for trying to interview members of Ashtiani's family. Her son, Sajjad Qaderzadeh, was also arrested.
Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, issued a statement on Friday condemning the treatment of Ashtiani as "an affront to women around the world."
"We ask that Iran respect its human rights obligations," she said in a statement.
"We call upon the Iranian regime to abolish the sentence of stoning, which is an inhumane practice and part of a deteriorating human rights situation in Iran."
Laureen Harper said free women in Canada and around the world would not rest until Ashtiani and others facing a similar plight in Iran are freed, and their human rights respected.
After the October arrests, Qaderzadeh appeared on television recanting his allegation that his mother had been tortured.
Kian said he had advised Ashtiani's son to lie to the Western journalists. The same television station broadcasted a purported statement from Ashtiani in which she called herself a "sinner."
So far, Ashtiani has escaped execution after foreign countries condemned the way she had been treated. Officially, her stoning sentence has been put on hold, but she could still face hanging for her criminal convictions.
With files from The Associated Press
