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Nobel Laureate Sues U.S. Over Publication
Mon Nov 1,10:11 PM ET
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - A Nobel Prize winner from Iran, praised by President Bush (news - web sites) for her commitment to democracy, is suing the U.S. government over restrictions that could block the publication of her memoirs in America.
In her lawsuit, Shirin Ebadi argued that Treasury Department (news - web sites) regulations restricting the publication in the United States of works by authors in countries subject to U.S. trade sanctions is unconstitutional.
Ebadi and The Strothman Agency, a literary agent that wants to work with her, filed the suit in New York last week. On Monday, a federal judge agreed to add the lawsuit to similar litigation brought in September by other publishing groups and authors. A hearing date has not been set.
According to Treasury Department regulations, American companies are forbidden to publish the works of authors in Iran, Cuba and Sudan unless the works have already been completed without American involvement.
American publishers are also forbidden from promoting or marketing works from the three countries unless they obtain a license from the department's Office of Foreign Asset Control.
The lawsuit alleges the restrictions violate the First Amendment and declarations by Congress that U.S. trade embargoes may not be allowed to restrict the free flow of information and ideas.
Molly Millerwise, a Treasury spokeswoman, said the department does not comment on specific lawsuits.
Ebadi, 57, a Muslim lawyer and human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, said she wants to write a book about her life and career and publish it in America, rather than Iran, where it would be subject to state approval.
Ebadi has represented the families of writers and intellectuals who were murdered in Iran and she has been imprisoned for defending human rights and pursuing justice for violence victims.
She said in her suit that blocking her memoirs would be a "critical missed opportunity both for Americans to learn more about my country and its people from a variety of Iranian voices and for a better understanding to be achieved between our two countries."
Mon Nov 1,10:11 PM ET
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - A Nobel Prize winner from Iran, praised by President Bush (news - web sites) for her commitment to democracy, is suing the U.S. government over restrictions that could block the publication of her memoirs in America.
In her lawsuit, Shirin Ebadi argued that Treasury Department (news - web sites) regulations restricting the publication in the United States of works by authors in countries subject to U.S. trade sanctions is unconstitutional.
Ebadi and The Strothman Agency, a literary agent that wants to work with her, filed the suit in New York last week. On Monday, a federal judge agreed to add the lawsuit to similar litigation brought in September by other publishing groups and authors. A hearing date has not been set.
According to Treasury Department regulations, American companies are forbidden to publish the works of authors in Iran, Cuba and Sudan unless the works have already been completed without American involvement.
American publishers are also forbidden from promoting or marketing works from the three countries unless they obtain a license from the department's Office of Foreign Asset Control.
The lawsuit alleges the restrictions violate the First Amendment and declarations by Congress that U.S. trade embargoes may not be allowed to restrict the free flow of information and ideas.
Molly Millerwise, a Treasury spokeswoman, said the department does not comment on specific lawsuits.
Ebadi, 57, a Muslim lawyer and human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, said she wants to write a book about her life and career and publish it in America, rather than Iran, where it would be subject to state approval.
Ebadi has represented the families of writers and intellectuals who were murdered in Iran and she has been imprisoned for defending human rights and pursuing justice for violence victims.
She said in her suit that blocking her memoirs would be a "critical missed opportunity both for Americans to learn more about my country and its people from a variety of Iranian voices and for a better understanding to be achieved between our two countries."