On the day of the Nobel Award Ceremony, both Jonas Gahr Støre and Carl Bildt have used the opportunity to express their serious concerns about the Iranian authorities’ treatment of Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Shirin Ebadi is one of many courageous people who use peaceful means to try to increase respect for human rights in Iran. We react very strongly to the treatment to which (she) has been subjected,” the two Foreign Ministers say in a statement.

They go on to voice how dismayed they were to hear that the Iranian authorities had recently deprived Ebadi of the medal and diploma she was awarded.

Shirin Ebadi and her translator
wickenden/FlickrAlthough they have now returned them to her, the ministers believe her situation to still be serious, as the authorities are preventing her from carrying out her work in the country and have closed the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, of which she was co-founder.

“The confiscation of the medal and the numerous threats directed at her, her family, and her colleagues give cause for great concern, and are yet another example of the worsened human rights situation in Iran since the election in June this year.”

“Norway and Sweden urge the Iranian authorities to allow Ms Ebadi’s safe return to Iran and to allow (the) centre to reopen so she can resume her important work for human rights in the country,” the ministers conclude.