Norway: Iran has Nobel laureate's deposit box with medal (3rd Roundup)

Nov 27, 2009, 16:28 GMT

Tehran/Oslo - A Norwegian diplomat was told Friday that Iranian authorities are in possession of a bank deposit box containing the medal awarded to 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, the Norwegian foreign ministry said.

Norwegian Ambassador Roald Naess was informed during a meeting at the foreign ministry in Tehran that 'the bank deposit box has been confiscated,' Norwegian foreign ministry spokeswoman Ragnhild Imerslund told the German Press Agency dpa.

The bank deposit box contained 'the Nobel medal, diploma and some personal items,' Imerslund said.

The Iranian action was attributed to an outstanding tax matter.

Naess repeated Oslo's protest against the treatment of Ebadi, who also was contacted by Norwegian authorities.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Thursday said it was the first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities.

Earlier Friday, Iran denied having confiscated the medal, the Mehr news agency reported.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said there has been no confiscation and linked the issue to non-payment of taxes by Ebadi.

'We really wonder about this stance by Norwegian officials without thorough study of the case,' the spokesman said.

Mehmanparast called on Norway to respect global tax laws but did not make clear what exactly was confiscated from Ebadi due to the alleged non-payment of her taxes.

Ebadi has not returned to Iran since the unrest following the disputed June 12 presidential election and is likely to be arrested if she does because of her outspoken opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Islamic establishment.

Ebadi was awarded the peace prize for 'her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially the rights of women and children, in Iran and the Muslim world in general.'

While denying the claims by the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Reformist websites quoted Ebadi as saying that courts in Tehran have blocked their accounts and that she would no longer have access to them.

Ebadi said that also her safety boxes were blocked in which she had kept her nobel medal and other international awards.

She added that also the accounts and safety box of her husband - an engineer without any political and social engagements - were blocked by the court.

Ebadi said that she and her lawyer in Tehran would take the case to the high administration court.

The websites also quoted her lawyer in Tehran, Nasrin Sotudeh, as saying that the court has ordered Ebadi to pay the absurd tax amount of five billion Rials - about 500,000 dollars - although the nobel laureate is widely known to have worked for free in the recent years.

The official Iranian news agency IRNA reported meanwhile that the Iranian foreign ministry in the meeting with Naess protested against 'Norway's blatant interference in Iran's internal affairs.'

A foreign ministry general director told the ambassador that it was regrettable that Norway's remarks were made based on incorrect information.

The official said that Iranian tax laws and confrontation of tax evasion would apply for all Iranians, adding that Ebadi was no exception, the IRNA report said.