Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi (Persian: ????? ?????; born June 21, 1947) is an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist. On December 10, 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to receive the prize.

Ebadi as a lawyer

Ebadi now lectures law at the University of Tehran, and is a campaigner for strengthening the legal status of children and women, the latter of which played a key role in the May 1997 landslide presidential election of the reformist Mohammad Khatami.

Related Topics:
1997 - Mohammad Khatami

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As a lawyer, she is known for taking up cases of liberal and dissident figures who have fallen foul of the judiciary, one of the bastions of hardline power in Iran. She has represented the family of Dariush Forouhar, a dissident intellectual and politician who was found stabbed to death at his home. His wife, Parvaneh, was also killed at the same time.

Related Topics:
Dariush Forouhar - Parvaneh

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The couple were among several dissidents who died in a spate of grisly murders that terrorized Iran's intellectual community. Suspicion fell on extremist hard-liners determined to put a stop to the more liberal climate fostered by President Khatami, who has championed freedom of speech. The murders was found to be committed by a team of the employees of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, of which the leader Saeed Emami committed suicide in jail before being brought to the court.

Related Topics:
Iranian Ministry of Intelligence - Saeed Emami - Suicide

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She also represented the family of Ezzat Ebrahimnezhad, the only officially accepted case of murder in the Iranian student protests of July 1999. It was in the process of this case that in 2000, Ebadi was accused of distributing the video-taped confession of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a hardline hooligan who claimed that prominent conservative leaders were instigating physical attacks on pro-reform gatherings and figures. She claimed that she had only taped the confessions in order to present them to the court. She received a suspended jail sentence and a professional ban (which was later lifted). Her case brought increased focus on Iran from human rights groups abroad.

Related Topics:
Ezzat Ebrahimnezhad - Iranian student protests - 1999 - 2000 - Amir Farshad Ebrahimi

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Ebadi has also defended various cases of child abuse cases and a few cases dealing with bans of periodicals (including the cases of Habibollah Peyman, Abbas Maroufi, and Faraj Sarkouhi). She has also established two non-governmental organizations in Iran, the Iranian Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child and the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights.

Related Topics:
Child abuse - Habibollah Peyman - Abbas Maroufi - Faraj Sarkouhi - Iranian Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child - Centre for the Defence of Human Rights

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She also drafted the original text of a law against physical abuse of children, which was passed by the Majlis in 2002.

Related Topics:
Physical abuse - Majlis - 2002

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