Iran: Shirin Ebadi defends poll boycott decision

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EF5ED1CC-5F71-4557-ADCF-F7B68D752CB5.htm

Iranian Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has defended her decision to boycott her country's election, saying she deems the entire election illegitimate.

She said it was of little difference whether hardline Tehran mayor Mahmood Ahmadinejad or former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani won.

"I have protested from the start about the electoral law. For me the only option is civil disobedience and this is the least we can do. The votes are not just, because they are not free," she said.

"The votes that come out of the boxes are valid as long as they have been the results of a free election. Can you say Saddam Hussein's regime was legitimate or the elections fine just because he got 99% of the votes?"

to that wonderful country.

Steve