Lage (PSE). – (PT) Mr President, various Nobel Prizes have been awarded recently to scientific and literary luminaries, but one in particular deserves a mention here. The Nobel Peace Price was awarded to an Iranian lawyer, Mrs Ebadi, who has campaigned tirelessly, boldly and courageously for human rights and women’s rights in her country. This prize constitutes a huge boost in the struggle for the emancipation of women in Iran, and in the struggle for democracy against the theocratic rule of the mullahs in that country. Mrs Ebadi, therefore, was welcomed by thousands of people, thousands of democrats singing her praises. It was thus unfortunate that Iran’s supposedly reformist president, Mr Katami, should have belittled her, telling her that, when all was said and done, the Nobel Prize was not as special as all that. Iranian society as we see it today, therefore, is in ferment. It is a society striving for democracy, fighting a battle for freedom, democracy, human rights and women’s rights in Iran. Mrs Ebadi can now take up a commanding position in this battle.

Mr President, I would be grateful if you would congratulate Mrs Ebadi, because this Nobel Prize deserves a mention here, since it has been awarded to someone engaged in a great cause, one of the causes of this House, the cause of democracy, rights and freedoms.