Iranian Nobel winner: Violence must end, new elections needed

Jun 19, 2009, 15:52 GMT

Geneva - Shirin Ebadi, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, said Friday that the violence against the demonstrators in Iran must stop, those arrested should be released and if the protests continued new elections should be held.

'I think it is very important that all those who have been arrested be released without any conditions,' said Ebadi, a human rights lawyer from Tehran.

'All sorts of violence against the people should stop,' she said, adding that compensation should be given to those wounded and killed by the use of force.

'If the people are still unsatisfied with the results of the elections, it is important that these elections should be null and void, and new elections should take place,' she added, speaking through an interpreter.

'These new elections should be organized under international observers coming from the UN or other international organizations,' Ebadi said. Without such observers, she noted, the next round could also be followed by waves of protests.

Ebadi estimated that more than 500 people have been arrested since the election results were announced on Saturday, declaring incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.

Due to the restrictions on communication services, she said she could not give precise numbers, but mentioned that two of her staff members were in detention.

She was speaking at an event of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Geneva. While in the Swiss city, she also met with Navi Pillay, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has also condemned the violence against protesters.

In Iran, she said more generally, authorities have at times dealt heavy-handedly with human rights groups, including her own.

The Nobel laureate said she would return to Iran, where her family lives, after finishing her business in Europe.