Freedom is important because it allows us to live our lives as we see fit, an aspect that Nobel Peace Prize-winning author Dr Shirin Ebadi talks about in her book Until We Are Free with me. She talks about how this is reflected in Iran, and the fact that people continue to die for this. It gives us the opportunity to make our own choices and to pursue our own goals. Freedom also allows us to express ourselves freely and to associate with whomever we choose.

Without freedom, we would be at the mercy of others. We would be unable to make our own decisions and to live our lives the way we want to. Freedom is essential for a happy and fulfilling life.

Here are some of the reasons why freedom is important:

• Freedom allows us to be ourselves. We can express our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs without fear of reprisal.
• Freedom allows us to make our own choices. We can decide what we want to do with our lives and how we want to live them.
• Freedom allows us to pursue our dreams. We can set goals for ourselves and work towards achieving them.
• Freedom allows us to connect with others. We can form relationships with people who share our interests and values.
• Freedom allows us to make a difference in the world. We can use our voices to speak out against injustice and to promote peace and equality.

Freedom is a precious gift. It is something that we should never take for granted. We should all strive to protect and defend our freedom, so that we can live our lives to the fullest.

So why is freedom important?

Thanks to the following guest for participating:

Dr Shirin Ebadi is an author, lawyer, and was the first female judge in Iran, living in exile in London since 2009. In 2003, she received the Nobel Peace Prize. She was a judge in Iran until 1979, the year of the Islamic Revolution, after which she was not allowed to practise as one. In 1994, she co-founded the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child. In 2002, she co-founded the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) with other lawyers to assist those working towards promoting democracy. After her Nobel Prize, she co-founded the Nobel Women’s Initiative in 2006, and used some of her prize money to support DHRC. In 2008, the Iranian government closed down the DHRC by raiding her office, which had, by then, 30 lawyers working on cases. While she was travelling abroad, her professional archives and personal belongings were confiscated, her sister arrested on spurious charges as well. We spoke about her important book Until We Are Free: My Fight For Human Rights in Iran written in 2016. Her translator is Maryam Mousavi.

Here are some of the resources from the show:

Akbar Ganji, called by some “Iran’s most famous dissident,” was a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But, troubled by the regime’s repressive nature, he became an investigative journalist in the 1990s, writing for Iran’s pro-democracy newspapers. Most notably, he traced the murders of dissident intellectuals to Iran’s secret service. In 2000 Ganji was arrested, sentenced to six years in prison, and banned from working as a journalist. His eighty-day hunger strike during his last year in prison mobilized the international human rights community.

Books looked at this week:

Dr Shirin Ebadi: Until We Are Free: My Fight For Human Rights in Iran

Akbar Ganji: The Road to Democracy in Iran

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