By IANS/AKI,
Rome : The jailed lawyer for an Iranian mother of two who was condemned to death by stoning claims he has been tortured in prison.
Javid Houtan Kian was representing Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who last year was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and helping murder her husband.
Her stoning sentence has since been suspended following an international campaign to save her life but there are fears she could still be executed.
“I’ve been severely tortured, but I won’t give up or close my eyes to such injustice,” Kian said in a letter smuggled out of a prison in Tabriz, in northwest Iran.
Kian was arrested in October together with Ashtiani’s son Sajjad Ghaderzade and two German journalists who were interviewing them. The journalists were recently freed.
The letter was sent to a number of international news agencies including Adnkronos International (AKI).
The letter asked that his message be delivered to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, non-profit group Lawyers Without Frontiers and to the administration of US President Barack Obama.
Kian said he has “12 broken teeth” and “cigarette burns on his testicles”.
Prior to his arrest, Ghaderzade and his sister Sahideh Ghaderzade in an interview with AKI in October asked Italy for political asylum after feeling threatened by security authorities at home.