Free Republic

While at CPAC, I had the opportunity to interview the director of "The Stoning of Soraya M." , Cyrus Nowrasteh: [VIDEO AT SITE] This is story that must be told, as it is a story of hope that must not be extinguished. It is the account of an 'inconvenient wife' accused of adultery in a rural town in Iran. The punishment for such a crime under islamic law is death by stoning. The movie was filmed near Petra, Jordan and many in the cast are of Iranian descent.An Iranian journalist living in Paris, Freidoune Sahebjam, stumbled upon the story while...

A powerful new film, The Stoning of Soraya M., is calling public attention to the Islamic practice of stoning adulterers in a way that only Hollywood can; while at least eight women await death by stoning in Iran today, none of their cases have drawn any significant protests from human rights organizations, and Western governments have remained largely indifferent. With a genocidally inclined nuclear Iran looming on the international stage, the victimization of women by Islamic laws prescribing stoning for adultery and other sexual crimes may seem to be the least of our worries. The Stoning of Soraya M., however,...

Hitting limited theaters this weekend is the true and eye-opening story of a modern-day woman who was tragically stoned to death in Iran after she was falsely accused and deemed guilty of adultery. Produced by the man behind “Braveheart” and “The Passion of the Christ” and based on the book of the same name, “The Stoning of Soraya M.” was inspired by true events that took place in 1986 and comes out as the current strife plaguing a deeply divided Iran has caught the world's attention. On Friday, foreign ministers from Group of Eight countries said they deplored post-election violence...

Please come out and support the premiere of "The Stoning of Soraya M" You can do your part by attending the premier or forwarding this email on to your distribution lists. “The Stoning of Soraya M” - Theater Listing for June 26 Premiere Initial Listing of Nationwide theaters where “The Stoning of Soraya M.” is scheduled to be shown, premiering June 26, 2009: Boston - Norfolk County Chestnut Hill/Brookline CFB W Newton Cinema 6 Boston - Middlesex County Cambridge LNDMRK Kendall Square Cinema New York - NY-Manhattan East Side JACOBS Beekman Village LNDMRK Sunshine Cinema Philadelphia Philadelphia LNDMRK Ritz 5...

Those who want to know the truth about Iranian justice must see Cyrus Nowrasteh’s gripping feature documentary film “The Stoning of Soraya M.” The film - based on the book written by Friedounce Sahebjam and debuting today at the Toronto International Film Festival - depicts the true life story of Soraya M, an Iranian woman falsely accused of adultery. She was then sentenced to death by stoning so that her husband would be free to marry a 14-year old. Partially buried in the ground, she was savagely stoned to death by a mob of men that included her own father,...

Shoreh Aghdashloo, who stars in the upcoming and powerful film The Stoning of Soraya M, appeared today on Fox & Friends to discuss the uprising in her native Iran. From my earlier encounter with Aghdashloo, I know that she emigrated from Iran to escape the repressive Islamist revolution, and it took years for her to get her family out of the country as she worked in the West for democratic change in Iran. How does she see the protests, in the context of her own struggle? Aghdashloo confessed to mixed emotions (via YidwithLid):

HP-1353 "Treasury Designates Additional FARC International Commission Members" SNIPPET: "Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated three international representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a narco-terrorist organization. The OFAC action was taken pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act), which applies financial sanctions against significant foreign narcotics traffickers and organizations, like the FARC. "Today's action exposes three additional members of the FARC's International Commission," said Adam J. Szubin, Director of OFAC. "The FARC is one of the world's largest suppliers of cocaine and continues to be...