MSNBC - Where is stoning legal, and how is it done?
(Stoning) still exists on the law books in Afghanistan, Iran, sections of Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.
The law specifies the size of the stones in Sharia Law in Iran to ensure the execution does not take too long or occur too quickly. When Iranian officials have faced substantial public outcry over a stoning sentence, as was the case in the case of Makarrameh Ebrahimi in 2007, they have freed accused adulterers, according to the Human Rights Watch.
In order to be convicted of adultery, judges can rely upon eyewitness accounts and evidence, or, under Article 105 of the Islamic Penal Code, their “judicial knowledge." Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, whose execution by stoning is expected any day now, was convicted on judicial knowledge.
(Article 102. The stoning of an adulterer or adulteress shall be carried out while each is placed in a hole and covered with soil, he up to his waist and she up to a line above her breasts.)
- from Islamic Republic of Iran: Penal Code Excerpts
The use of stoning as a method of execution finds its roots in ancient Greece and in Judeo-Christian religious texts, and has been used to punish those accused of adultery, prostitution, murder, and blasphemy. It is referenced in the Torah and Old Testament, but has no explicit mention in the Quran.
