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Iranian woman activist barred from traveling

An Iranian women's rights activist was barred from traveling to Sweden to receive a prize for her work, but she vowed on Monday she would continue pushing for equality despite restrictions imposed on women activists.

Parvin Ardalan was to receive the 2007 Olaf Palme award in Stockholm tomorrow, but she said she was told just before her flight to Stockholm on Sunday that she was not allowed to leave the country.

Ardalan said that when she received her passport recently, she had not been told of any ban, but "it happened in the last moments before departure."

The 36-year-old Ardalan is one of a number of activists leading a campaign demanding the government change laws that discriminate against women.

Activists say the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has tried to roll back rights won by women in past years and has cracked down on women activists. Ardalan was among dozens of women arrested from a 2006 demonstration in Tehran demanding equal rights. She was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of jeopardizing national security. She has been free as she appeals the ruling.

Ardalan said the travel ban may be linked to the upcoming international Woman's Day on Saturday.

"Usually near March 8, pressure on women activists increases. They [authorities] do not issue gathering permits, they do not allow public halls to host women's gatherings, too," she said.

Iranian officials did not immediate reply to requests for comments on the ban on Ardalan.

Ardalan said the reason given for the ban was that she faced an open court case, referring to her appeal.

A columnist in women's publications, Ardalan is the co-founder of a campaign aimed at gathering 1 million signatures in favor of equal rights for women.

"We don't know what happened. She was stopped right before she was to travel," said Mikael Nave, a spokesman for the Olof Palme memorial fund.

He said prize organizers had not yet decided whether to cancel the ceremony or ask someone to receive the prize on Ardalan's behalf.

In its citation, the prize committee said Ardalan "has succeeded in making the demand for equal rights for men and women a central part of the struggle for democracy in Iran."

"Despite persecution, threats and harassment, Parvin Ardalan has been persistent in her struggle and never compromised her ideals," the citation said.

The award is endowed by the family of the late Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, who was murdered in central Stockholm on Feb. 28, 1986.
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