February 8, 2012

Rosedale’s book mogul fights stoning

Heather Reisman organizes protest to stop Iranian woman’s death sentence

Anna Sajecki

It was a recent conversation with Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel that compelled North Toronto resident and Indigo CEO Heather Reisman to try and save Iranian woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani from death. 

“I had just come from hearing him say the opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference,” said Reisman of her talk with Wiesel, the author of Night, which is based on his experiences at Auschwitz. 

When she read the article about Ashtiani, Reisman said she had to act. “I felt that, if I just went to bed, I was being indifferent to the situation.” That night, Reisman sent out e-mails to nine friends, each of who had a powerful network. Together, they started a petition, which was sent to the Iranian government every time a new name was added. One week later, more than 100,000 e-mails had been sent, enough help to temporarily cancel the stoning of Ashtiani. The mother of two has already been lashed 100 times for alleged adultery, which Ashtiani herself denies.

However, Reisman said the fight isn’t over. While the national Iranian government says Ashtiani’s case is under review, Reisman said local provincial officials have recently declared the right to implement the stoning death.

This article appears in the August 2010 issue of North Toronto Post

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