TIMES ONLINE: An Iranian Nobel laureate will accept an award from a Government-financed human rights organisation in a move that is likely to ramp up the the Islamic Republic’s “propaganda” machine against the UK and further strain relations between the two countries.
The Times has learnt that Shirin Ebadi — the first Muslim women to win the Nobel Peace Prize for championing human rights and campaigning for democracy in Iran — will be presented with the award today by an organisation which annually receives £1.6 million, the bulk of its budget, from the Department of International Development (DFID).
International Services, a York-based development agency which helps disadvantaged people in places such as the Middle East and claims to be “non-political”, will present Dr Ebadi with the Award for Global Defence of Human Rights.
This comes after Dr Ebadi, 62, who has spent the past six months away from Iran attacking the regime’s alleged human rights abuses and electoral fraud, recently had her 2003 Nobel peace medal confiscated by the Iranian Government and her bank account frozen on the claim that she owes £250,000 in tax. >>> Richard Kerbaj | Monday, December 07, 2009
