NCRI (Stockholm) – Mr Mogens Camre, MEP from Denmark, on Saturday, November 24, in a speech in demonstration by thousands of Iranians residing in sweden, condemned the recent insults to members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MeK) based in Ashraf city (home to the members of the PMOI in Iraq) by the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.
"As a Scandinavian I believe that our press should be more responsible and should not repeat the allegations circulated by the mullahs’ regime. … The Iranian regime is making the best use of that article against the Iranian opposition. I think the most honourable thing is an apology to Ashraf members whose honour have been violated by such allegations.", Mr. Camre said.
Text of speech by Mr Mogens Camre, Memeber of European Parliament from Denmark
Stockholm, Saturday November 24, 2007
Dear friends,
First of all I would like to express my warmest greetings to the People’s Mojahedin members in the Ashraf city in Iraq. Your resistance, especially in the last 4 years, against all kinds of pressures from the mullahs’ regime and their agents in Iraq, is an encouragement to us all.
I am speaking to you today on behalf of the Friends of a Free Iran inter-group in the European parliament. This is a group which consists members of parliament from right and left who disagree about many things in politics but what we have in common is our support for the Iranian resistance and our call for the removal of the People’s Mojahedin from the black list and our strong support for a free and democratic Iran.
We in Europe are facing the new threats from Islamic fundamentalism. The mullahs are exporting their Islamic fundamentalism into Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. The solution to prevent this expansion of fundamentalism is to support a Muslim movement which is totally anti fundamentalist, which believes in democracy, which women play a leading role. This movement is the People’s Mojahedin which is part of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
I am not an inexperienced politician. I have been in politics for over 30 years and I have known this movement for many years. My colleagues and I have in the past few years conducted extensive research into this opposition movement. We have held a number of meetings with their officials, while also having visited their European headquarters in the suburbs of Paris, and on several occasions invited Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, to the European Parliament or met her at her residence and challenged her with the toughest of questions. We truly found Mrs. Rajavi and the movement under her leadership very sincere and determined in their ideas and their democratic program.
So it was very annoying to witness such attacks against PMOI members in Ashraf. I was shocked to read the comments made by an American official in a Swedish national paper last week. We in the Friends of a Free Iran have strongly protested to such allegations, especially against the women in Ashraf who have been the target of such offensive attacks. Such comments are also insulting to several U.S. military officials who were in charge of the security of Ashraf in the last few years and have publicly praised the PMOI, such as Brigadier General David Philips, who was responsible for the protection of Ashraf until the end of 2004.
I should add that the European parliament has an official policy in support of the PMOI members in Iraq . A resolution on Iraq was adopted in the European Parliament on 12 July 2007; paragraph 7 deals specifically with the PMOI members in Ashraf.
As a Scandinavian I believe that our press should be more responsible and should not repeat the allegations circulated by the mullahs’ regime. I was shocked to read such an article against an Iranian opposition movement and especially against their female members. The Iranian regime is making the best use of that article against the Iranian opposition. I think the most honourable thing is an apology to Ashraf members whose honour have been violated by such allegations. In any circumstances, I would like to add that a statement like that is a flagrant violation of article 27 of the 4th Geneva Convention that describes the rights of protected persons and states that "Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour."
Dear Friends,
The appeasement policy towards Iran has failed. The European Union has been following such a failed appeasement policy for many years and the result is the emergence of Ahmadinejad who is calling for the destruction of Israel and are defying all UN resolutions regarding the secret nuclear programme. The other side of the coin of this appeasement policy which has been the first demand of the mullahs, is to put pressure on the People’s Mojahedin as the main opposition. The black listing of PMOI by the EU, despite the fact that PMOI won their court case in the European Court of Justice last December is an example.
The Iranian regime’s misinformation campaign is targeting the Iranian Mojahedin and its leadership. The regime is using recruiting Iranians who introduce themselves as former members of PMOI. Then these agents go to meet politicians or journalists and pretend to be against the regime but keep making different allegations against this opposition. The aim is to make the supporters of this group passive and inactive. The regime spends millions to carry this misinformation campaign against PMOI. The regime does not spend a krone on other groups. Do you know why? Because the reality is that this is the only opposition which the mullahs are scared of.
So we should treat them more fairly and respect their rights which have been unfortunately been violated in such a way in Sweden recently and that is why many of you have felt obliged to gather here to protest to such injustice.
I would like to finally say to my sisters and brothers in Ashraf who are watching this rally today that we will keep supporting you till we get rid of the mullahs in Iran. There is no other way than freedom and democracy. The regime in Tehran belongs to the past. You are the future of Iran.
Thank you.
