Winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and the president of the Defenders of Human ‎Rights Organization, which is in charge of representing detained Bahais, informed Rooz ‎in an interview of her complaint filed against the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) ‎and hoped that the judiciary would assert its independence by justly examining the case. ‎Below you will read the interview. ‎

Rooz (R): Why did you decide to file complaint against state-run IRNA? ‎

Shirin Ebadi (SE): From some time ago, especially since receiving the Nobel Prize, I ‎was under attack by certain right-wing newspapers, which published all kinds of threats ‎and lies about me. However, this time the story was different, because the Islamic ‎Republic News Agency, which is in effect the Iranian regime’s mouthpiece, made ‎inappropriate accusations against me. After I accepted to defend Bahais they announced ‎that my daughter is Bahai and that Israel is the center of Bahaism and I am in ‎communicating with my daughter through Israel and want to use this issue to gain further ‎concessions from Western countries for myself and my family. My daughter and I ‎denied such accusations.‎

R: Did your denials not stop the trend of false accusations? ‎

SE: What was surprising was that, two days after our denial, another article was ‎published in IRNA under the title, “Captivity in Bahaism’s Net.” The article was first ‎published under the name of its original author, but after a few hours, IRNA erased the ‎name and announced that the article was prepared by the research committee of the ‎Islamic Republic’s News Agency. In that article, while repeating false accusations ‎against us, which we had already denied, other accusations were made. In order to show ‎the Iranian government what it means to behave in accordance to laws, I filed a complaint ‎and hope that Tehran’s judiciary would asserts its independence by justly examining the ‎case. ‎

R: What is different this time than other times before when you were attacked by state-‎run news agencies? ‎

SE: The Islamic Republic News Agency has been established and run with the help of ‎tax revenues paid by the people, but are we paying taxes so that such accusations are ‎published? After the complaint, IRNA again committed a crime and published another ‎article titled, “Terrorist and Prostitution-Promoting One Million Signatures Campaign.” ‎In that article, while insulting women’s rights activists – including Shahla Sherkat, ‎Shahla Lahiji, Dr. Fatemeh Sadeghi and others – it introduced me as the campaign’s legal ‎advisor. Another complaint was filed because the crime was recommitted. I also filed ‎complaints against newspapers that had published such false accusations. ‎

R: Given the relationship between the judiciary and news agencies, are you hopeful that ‎your complaints will bear fruit, and if not, what will you do?‎

SE: I hope that our judiciary would assert its independence by justly examining the case. ‎It is natural that if the case is not examined justly I will use, first and foremost, all ‎national resources and, secondly, all international resources in my disposal so that I can ‎help them understand that what they are doing is against professional journalism ethics. ‎What they did was even condemned by Reporters without Borders, which is a respected ‎international organization for journalists. ‎

We must note that these lies are published by the Islamic Republic News Agency and, in ‎effect, by the Islamic Republic government. More importantly, monetary, technical and ‎informative resources are abused to publish such false accusations. ‎

R: Some have said that given the sensitivities against Bahais and the Defenders of ‎Human Rights Organization in Iran, Ms. Ebadi has accepted a huge risk by accepting this ‎case. What is your response? ‎

SE: Anyone who goes to prison for ideological reasons, like any other defendant, needs ‎an attorney and I have been representing political and ideological prisoners for free for ‎more than fifteen years. Defending someone does not mean having the same beliefs. ‎You must note that anyone who goes to trial must, in accordance with both international ‎human rights laws and domestic laws, must have an attorney and defending someone ‎does not mean sharing his beliefs. I have accepted this case despite all the dangers that it ‎may bring for me and will not step aside. Even if they put me in prison for ten years, on ‎the eleventh year, when I am out of prison, I will defend this case. ‎