Roxana Saberi Needs Another Daniel in Court

"The trial against her was unfair and was not in line with our constitution," the human rights lawyer told the German daily newspaper Bild.

"On the family's request, I have now taken over the case and will protest against the judgement."

"I wish he would deal with the problems in his own country instead of stirring up hatred."

In the last 23 years, from the day I was stripped of my judgeship to the years of doing battle in the revolutionary courts of Tehran, I had repeated one refrain: an interpretation of Islam that is in harmony with equality and democracy is an authentic expression of faith. It is not religion that binds women, but the selective dictates of those who wish them cloistered. That belief, along with the conviction that change in Iran must come peacefully and from within, has underpinned my work."

At the same time, Ebadi expresses a nationalist love of Iran and a critical view of the Western world. She opposed the pro-Western Shah, initially supported the Islamic Revolution, remembers the CIA's 1953 overthrow of prime minister Mohammed Mosaddeq with rage, and feels anger toward family and friends who have emigrated to Western countries with better job opportunities. "I refuse to write letters to those who had left ... When someone leaves Iran, it's as though that person has died to me."