Times:"Iran’s hardline regime has confiscated the Nobel peace medal and diploma of Shirin Ebadi, the human rights lawyer who is one of its most potent and outspoken critics. Her bank account has also been frozen on the pretext that she owes $410,000 in tax.
The seizure of the award, unprecedented in its108-year-old history, caused outrage in Olso where the Nobel peace committee is based. The Norwegian Government summoned the Iranian envoy to protest, and the committee said it too would be registering a formal complaint.
“Such an act leaves us feeling shock and disbelief,” said Jonas Gahr Stoere, Norway’s Foreign Minister.
Iran’s action was unacceptable, said Geir Lundestad, the committee’s secretary. “A laureate has never been treated like that. Even political dissidents such as [Andrei] Sakharov and [Lech] Walesa were better treated in their countries,” he added, referring to the Russian dissident and Polish trade union leader who won the prize while living in the Soviet bloc." (read the rest)
Here's an interview of Ebadi with the Persian Deutsche-Welle. The news has outraged not only the Norwegians but also the Iranian community. Ebadi's life has bean threatened for a long time, but the Iranian regime has been tightening the screws by making those threats more explicitely and also putting Ebadi's family (her husband and sister who are in Iran) under tremendous pressure. What makes this case even more disturbing is that the coup d'etat regime has confiscated her property out of her safe box in the bank! This mounts to bank robbery. Once again, Iran is witnessing a violation of property rights, on top of all violations of privacy. Thieves, Crooks and Liars ... sums up Iran's rulers!
8 comments:
Naj, I can't tell you how frightened this makes me. They blocked her husband's bank account, her bank account, both their pensions which were in separate accounts, ... confiscated her belongings. This is really, really frightening.
My friend, I have seen it al before, seen it aaaalll before ... i just didn't think i will witness it again ... i just thought we were on the right path ... I feel like someone whose dream is stolen ... I feel violated, personally violated, every bit of these news makes me feel raped, as part of a royally fucked nation ...
Naj, to a certain extent, this reminds me of what happened here in the United States to boxer Muhammad Ali, during America's anti-establishment movement of the late 1960's, early 70's.
In 1967, Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. military based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. He was arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges, stripped of his boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended. He was not imprisoned, but did not fight again for nearly four years while his appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was successful.
Ali's boxing title being stripped was a rough equivalent to Ebadi's medal being confiscated.
I take heat from certain Iranian-Americans for making comparisons between the US anti-establishment movement of old, and the current anti-establishment movement in Iran today. But I can't help but be struck by some of the similarities.
BTW: Why is Ebadi in the West making cases against Iran? What does she hope to gain by such proselytizing other than provoking accusations of treason from certain motivated elements of the establishment inside Iran?
-Pirouz
Pirouz,
Ebadi's nobel prize is not comparable to Ali's titles because he was the "official representative of the US" in boxing games; and Ebadi is a dissident.
Ebadi has been making all these accusations FROM INSIDE IRAN; extremely vocal especially since the death of Foruhar's. She has been on the black list while living in Iran, and yet she never minced her words. She was in Iran, in the aftermath of the election, representing several jaiiled lawyers and activists. And as you see, he husband and her belongings are still in Iran. She has a daughter who studies in Canada and I think she had come out to visit her--or to escape imminent persecution.
Another example of these human-rights lawyers is Shadi Sadr; she was kidnapped and jailed and when released, she came abroad to collect an award. She has then stated in several occasion that the IRI has made it very unappealing for her to want to go back; going back means terror and suffocation.
You have to recognize this:
In the past few months, the IRI has been eager to get rid of "trouble makers". Those who can add a new voice or provide new evidence to the outside community, they keep in Iran by confiscating their passports. Those who are more experienced, and who have had an activist profile for years, they either keep in prison, or those whom they have not succeeded to imprison, they send to exile! Precisely, counting on interpretations such as yours that "why are they making their accusations in the West, they are traitors." And the answer to your skepticism is this:
What Ebadi says IS NOT NEW; she has been saying it BRAVELY in Iran. And with this recent act of the IRI, it is made abundantly clear that they prefer her stay out and feed skepticism such as yours--or the one about which you are concerned.
My advice: be careful how IRI manipulates its supporters (who are genuinely peace-loving anti-war decent humans who think IRI is another victim of neo-con plot) abroad! And, also be sure that many of these people are jail are not there because of their LOVE for teh west; but because of their disdain for Ahmadinejadist policies that have in practice subjugated Iran to not only Western plots, but easter block's whims!
P.S. forgive sloppy writing and correct things like "those who are jail are ..." with "those who are in jail, are not there ..." . Gotta rush to work :)
i posted regarding this, but i would not be surprised to see this incident play a role when obama visits oslo on dec 10 to accept his own nobel peace prize. (i couldn't find any information on whether past winners are customarily in attendance, but it would be fascinating if ebadi was there). by that point, obama's self-imposed december deadline on nuclear talks will have passed, and there's already growing pressure on him (from all sides) to speak out more forcefully on the human rights situation. perhaps he will do so in his acceptance speech.
Masoud;
good point.
What I just FAILt to understand is WHY is the IRanian authority operating in such seemingly self-detrimental manners. I mean, they are already under pressure about the nuclear issue--with ElBaradei acting like the hypocrite that he is; pretending to be pro-solution; but caving in in the last minute--I just don't see what is so wrong about Iran exchanging the fuel on its soil; Iran has EVERY reason to worry that France and Russia will not stick to their end of the deal; both countries have proven untrustworthy throughout Iran's history in the past 200 years!
Now, when Iran had a case, for which someone like me was willing to stand up and defend Iran's stance--re nuclear negotiation--they pull another rabit out of their stupid hat and STEAL Ebadi's HR award! What the hell?!?!
It would seem as if those who are MOST opposed to Iran's return to the world stage (read Israel, Saudi Arabia and UAE) are pulling the strings somewhere!
This is so sad. I'm sorry.
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