Mohammad Seifzadeh is a prominent Iranian human rights attorney and a founder of the recently shut down Tehran-based Center for the Defenders of Human Rights (presided by Nobel laurette Shirin Ebadi). In an exclusive interview with Rooz he said, “Those who have prevented the activities of the Center must be prosecuted.” Here are the details.

Rooz (R ): Are government authorities right when they say that the Center for the Defenders of Human Rights did not posses a legal operating license?

Mohammad Seifzadeh (MS): What these gentlemen say is absolutely untrue. The process to obtain a legal license has been completed through the authorities of the Ministry of Interior. The officials at the Ministry who have till today not given us our license are violators and will be sued by Tehran’s public prosecutor with our formal complaint.

R: So what was the reason for the closure of the Center from your perspective?

MS: Apparently the report that UN Secretary General gave to the General Assembly in which our Center was referenced four times regarding human rights violations in Iran made these gentlemen angry and led to the closure of the Center.

R: Do you think sending reports on human rights violations in Iran to international organizations can be a justification for closing the Center?

MS: Our reports are all available. We have proclaimed them in all our reports and they address our citizens and not international organizations. International communications in the modern world especially with the expansion of the Internet are very clear these days. So those for example who say that the Center has been in contact with the outside world in an un-transparent manner are lying and must prove this in a court of law.

R: What will you do if things continue the way they are now?

MS: If things remain as they are, we have decided to file a complaint against all those officials who have had a hand in the illegal actions against the Center.