Iranian Authorities Arrest Nobel Laureate’s Secretary

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From Shirzad Bozorgmehr

Editor’s Note:  CNN is reporting the arrest of Jinous Sobhani, a Baha’i in Tehran.  She is the daughter of Riaz Sobhani whose home was raided yesterday, Wednesday, 14 Jan, by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence.

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iranian authorities arrested a woman Wednesday who
worked as a secretary for two human rights groups funded by Nobel peace
laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Speaking to CNN, Ebadi said it was unclear why Jinous Sobhani was
arrested, noting that she had recently been laid off from the non-governmental
organizations after they were shut down by Iranian authorities last month.

“Why should a woman who used to work for our NGOs be arrested?” the
Nobel laureate asked. “I think this may be an effort to exert pressure on the
Defenders of Human Rights and the Organization for Defending Mine Victims.”

Ebadi said her organizations are working to secure a lawyer to represent
Sobhani. The woman’s husband told Ebadi that Iranian judiciary security
personnel had an arrest warrant for Sobhani and seized her early Wednesday at
her Tehran home. In addition to taking her into custody, they also confiscated
her computer case, her mobile phone, and her address book, Ebadi said.

In late December, government agents raided Ebadi’s law office — which is
in the same building as her apartment — seizing two computers and dozens of
files and documents on her clients, who are mostly political activists.

Source: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/14/iranian-authorities-arrest-nobel-laureates-secretary/

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