Sweden, Norway slam Iran for Nobel winner threats

[December 10, 2009]  STOCKHOLM (AP) -- The foreign ministers of Sweden and Norway have criticized Iranian authorities for their treatment of 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.

The Islamic Republic confiscated her Nobel medal last month but later returned it.

In a joint statement Thursday, Sweden's Carl Bildt and Norway's Jonas Gahr Stoere say Ebadi's situation is still serious and that she, her family and colleagues have been the target of "numerous threats" that "give cause for great concern."

They said Ebadi has been prevented from working as a defender of human rights in Iran and that authorities have shut her Defenders of Human Rights Center.

Ebadi, an Iranian human rights lawyer, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts in promoting democracy.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.