Ebadi: Courting trouble

Tehran, Jan. 16 (Reuters): Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi said she was ready to face arrest for refusing to appear before the Islamic state?s feared Revolutionary Court.

The human rights lawyer, who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, has defied a judiciary order to attend the court on the ground that she was not informed of the charges she faced. Asked if she feared the judiciary would carry out its written threat to arrest her if she did not go to court by Sunday, Ebadi said: ?In this country anything is possible.?

Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, said the court had now told her that her case involved a civil suit brought by a private complainant.

This explanation further angered Ebadi, 57, who pointed out that the Revolutionary Court, which has jailed many intellectuals and political dissidents in the past, deals with national security issues.

?It is unprecedented for the Revolutionary Court to summon someone for a private suit and (for them to) be told that failure to appear would result in his or her arrest,? she said.

?I believe the Revolutionary Court has diverted from the principle of impartiality regarding my summons and I hope it will be addressed by the judicial authorities.?

Ebadi said she hoped her stand against the judiciary would end the common practice of courts issuing a summons without informing the defendant of the charges.