| An aide to Iranian Nobel peace winner Shirin Ebadi has been arrested before the anniversary of Iran's disputed presidential election, Ebadi's rights groups said on Friday. "Narges Mohammadi was arrested at her home last night," the Defenders of Human Rights Centre said. Mohammadi, a mother of two, is a close aide to Ebadi and is the spokeswoman of the rights group, which is a vocal critic of the Iranian regime's treatment of dissidents and regularly reports on rights 'abuses.' Ebadi left Iran on the eve of the June 12, 2009 poll, which gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term amid widespread allegations by his opponents of fraud. That sparked street protests, which rocked the Islamic republic last summer and winter. Security forces cracked down heavily, with dozens of protesters killed, hundreds arrested and scores of prominent reformists, journalists and rights campaigners put on trial -- with many receiving stiff jail sentences. |