Nobel Peace Laureate Faces Iranian Govt Persecution

 

Human Rights Watch reports that the Iranian government has escalated its campaign of persecution against Nobel Peace Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, who runs the Iranian local NGOs, the Center for Participation in Clearing Mined Areas and the Defenders of Human Rights Center. 

On New Year’s Day 150 people demonstrated outside her house, spraying it with graffiti and tearing down the sign of her law office.  Earlier in December, Iranian security officials raided and forcibly closed the offices of her two NGOs and briefly imprisoned her, without a warrant.

"The mob violence occurring after the Iranian government unleashed its campaign of persecution against Shirin Ebadi shows that her life is in great danger," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

These humiliations come on the heals of a smear campaign against her by news organizations close to the regime. According to the New York Times, this is part of a broader campaign to crack down on reformists and activists ahead of the presidential elections in June.

-Matthew Bolton