Heather Murphy-Raines/Scout's HonorWhen in doubt, blame the accuser, right?

That's at least the tactic an Iranian newspaper is using to condemn France's first lady Carla Bruni as a prostitute.

Perhaps they think if they disparage the women, it will minimize her message? Carla's crime was to take part in a campaign to save a 43-year-old mother of two, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, from being stoned to death.

You might recall I covered Ms. Ashtiani's plight a few months ago where she was given 99 lashes and then sentenced to be stoned. It seems Ms. Bruni was similarly moved and helped organize protests that have resulted in France urging the European Union to threaten new sanctions over the case.

Worse? She recently penned an open letter to the press in which she wrote, "Because you have lived, because you have loved, because you're a woman, and because you're an Iranian? Everything within me refuses to accept it."

And hence? She's a "prostitute." I think I'm beginning to see the problem. I guess if the definition of prostitute is to be moved by Ms. Ashtiani's story below?

"The punishment of 99 lashes was considered not enough.

"Now death by stoning.

"CNN reports that Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, 42, and a mother of two, 'will be buried up to her chest, according to an Amnesty International report citing the Iranian penal code. The stones that will be hurled at her will be large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill her immediately.'

"Her crime? Adultery. An act up to 60 percent of the American population has engaged in.

"Worse, it may not be even true. Not only was the confession acquired after those 99 lashes, but there was a language barrier as court proceedings were in Farsi while she speaks Turkish."


Carla Bruni: Prostitute?

According to the BBC, the Kayhan, a state-run newspaper, "acting as a mouthpiece for the country's conservative Islamic regime, seeks to draw attention to Ms. Bruni's supposed chequered love life and her numerous relationships with high-profile celebrities." They have also attacked her friends and said Ms. Bruni only attempts to help Ms. Ashtiani as a method to justify her own "immorality."

I see. Attack the victim, attack her defenders, and attack her defenders' lifestyle. Do everything but attack the misogynistic policies of a woman-reviling country, yes?

Well, if so, so be it. Call me a whore. A prostitute. A puta.

However, also call me fortunate to be charged with such a condition and yet be free from being stoned, whipped, or beaten by the whim of a man under the thinly premised interpretation of religion. Who's with me? 

Let's join arms, we heathen women that dare to date, to vote, to show our hair and knees, be educated, choose our husbands, and divorce them if they beat or abuse us, and best yet, draw the world's attention to the horrific policies of Iran's conservative Islamic regime. They must be stopped from stoning another woman.


Image via blogcpolitic/Flickr