Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi of Iran is threatened at her home

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Scores of young men gathered around the Tehran home-office of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, shouted slogans against her and vandalized her home in the latest episode by hard-line political groups close to the government to intimidate the human rights lawyer.

Ebadi, 61, said Friday that two police officers dispatched after her frantic phone calls to authorities "just watched" Thursday as the vandals ripped off the sign bearing her name on her house, screamed that she was a supporter of Israel's Gaza Strip offensive and spray-painted slogans on the front of her building....The apparently unarmed young men, chanting, "Death to the pen-pushing mercenary," included one who told the Iranian Students News Agency, or ISNA, that he was a member of the Basiji militia. The hard-line group answers to the elite Revolutionary Guard, a parallel branch of the military, and supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the country's highest political and religious authority.

Ebadi was awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her years of legal work advocating on behalf of Iranian political activists, religious and ethnic minorities, women and children.

Thursday's demonstration was the third time in 11 days that authorities or forces close to them have moved against Ebadi, whose Center for the Defense of Human Rights compiled a report cited by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that led to a nonbinding United Nations resolution Dec. 18 calling on Iran to improve its human rights record. Three days later, authorities shut down the small center, accusing it of operating without a permit. On Dec. 29, authorities seized Ebadi's computer and confidential records, accusing her of tax evasion even though she has not accepted payment for her work in 15 years.

France, in its now-lapsed role as rotating president of the European Union, summoned Iran's envoy to Paris on Wednesday to protest the "unacceptable nature of the threats" against Ebadi and her colleagues....

Human rights advocates say Iranian authorities are using the tumult over Gaza as an excuse to punish dissidents. "The events in Gaza have brought about an opportunity to suppress and crack down on any human rights activities," said Khalil Bahramian, another Iranian human rights lawyer. "Gaza has provided them the chance to wash away human rights issues."

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-ebadi3-2009jan03,0,7406858.story

[davidinalameda]

1. the Iranians need an excuse to punish people?

that's news to me

I can't imagine how anyone can support these criminals

[EFerrari]

2. When they start punishing peace grannies, vegans and Quakers

will we be able to handle the competition? :P

[davidinalameda]

3. screw the quakers

damn oat eaters

[LeftishBrit]

4. Disgusting - and of course they're just proving her point

I hope she stays safe.

[grammysandie]

5. She wrote an excellent memoir

Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope was a quick, absorbing read. More of a personal than a political memoir (Ebadi became a judge at age 23 and initially supported the revolution that sent the Shah packing, until she realized the immense personal costs that would follow), but it does cover the major events in Iran's history from the mid-20th century to the present in order to illustrate the differences in ordinary Iranians' lives under a secular government, then under the restored monarchy, and finally under a fundamentalist Islamic government which instituted sharia law, complete with Taliban-style behavior police.

Very interesting and highly recommended.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Thanks for posting this info, grammysandie! nt