Sources say Iranian authorities have returned Shirin Ebadi's 2003 Nobel Peace Prize award after confiscating it earlier this year as part of a tax evasion case leveled at the human rights campaigner.

Tehran has previously denied claims that it confiscated the prize in September, along with other prizes won by Ms. Ebadi, including the Legion d’honneur.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide Tehran correspondent Thomas Erdbink says it is still unclear why the authorities may have returned the prize.

Listen to the Newsline interview with Thomas Erdbrink

“It could be that behind the scenes the leadership have been saying this will damage Iran’s reputation abroad. If this is the case, they will not admit it in public because they have already come out with the tax evasion narrative.”

While the authorities have made no official confirmation either way, they have strenuously denied that the case was politically motivated. Ms. Ebadi received 1.3 million euros when she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 and the authorities said she had avoided paying 400,000 euros in taxes. Ms. Ebadi denied the charges, saying there is no precedent of paying tax on international awards.

Post election protests
According to Thomas Erdbrink, the investigation only picked up speed after post election protests in June this year, when President Ahmadinejad won a second term. After these protests Ms. Ebadi has stayed abroad, fearing for her safety inside her own country after speaking out against the results.

Sweden and Norway have both criticised Iran for its treatment of Ms. Ebadi and her family, saying the leadership is preventing her from doing her human rights work. As part of the investigation the bank accounts of both her and her husband, who still lives in Tehran, have been frozen. Authorities also threatened her husband and daughter with losing their jobs and eventual arrest, according to Human Rights Watch, who have also picked up the case.

Unprecedented move
In the 108 year history of the Nobel organisation this is the first time a winner has had their prize confiscated, and Thomas Erdbrink says that this case is part of a larger attempt to stifle critics of the Iranian regime.

“Ms Ebadi has also said that her husband has been beaten during interrogations by authorities. This is proving more and more that she is one of Iran’s main dissidents and the Iranian government is very determined to damage her position.”