The protestors reiterated that following the United Kingdom decision to remove the PMOI from its list of proscribed organizations on June 23 in compliance with the rulings of the British Courts and the order of the Parliament, maintaining the PMOI in the EU terror list is absolutely unlawful. The UK government was the only one that sought to include the PMOI in the EU terror list.
The protestors reiterated that following the United Kingdom decision to remove the PMOI from its list of proscribed organizations on June 23 in compliance with the rulings of the British Courts and the order of the Parliament, maintaining the PMOI [MEK] in the EU terror list is absolutely unlawful. The UK government was the only one that sought to include the PMOI in the EU terror list.
According to reliable information, in recent weeks the clerical regime has resorted to measures of intimidation and deception to force the French government to commit an unlawful act and support maintaining the PMOI in the terror list. The clerical regime has pursued this objective vigorously in particular through its links with some of the French intelligence services.
Mr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and a number of other Euro MPs from various political groups addressed the rally including; Mr. Paulo Casaca, co-chairman of the Friends of a Free Iran Inter-group in the European Parliament, Mr. Tunne Kelam from Estonia, Mrs. Romana Jordan from Slovenia, Mr. Mogens Camre from Denmark, Mr. Søren Søndergaard from Denmark, Mr. Jacky Hénin from France, Mr. Eugenijus Gentvilas from Lithuania, and Lord King from the United Kingdom. They condemned the clerical regime's pressures on France and called on the French government to exercise firmness against the regime and reject mullahs' unlawful demands.
Iranians who were carrying their national flags and pictures of Mr. Massoud Rajavi and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, leaders of the Iranian Resistance, chanted: "EU, EU, listen to this, we want Mojahedin off your list."
The demonstrator carried big banners that called on the EU to remove the PMOI [MEK] from its terror list following the de-proscription of the group in the UK. Another banner called on France as the current EU President to defend justice and remove the PMOI from the list immediately.
In a major gathering in Villepinte, north of Paris, on June 28, more than 70,000 Iranians from all over Europe and around 1,000 parliamentarians and dignitaries from 32 countries called for immediate removal of the PMOI [MEK] from the EU blacklist. More than 600 parliamentarians from across Europe have written to President Sarkozy as the current EU President highlighting their demand for de-listing of the PMOI [MEK].
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
July 10, 2008
Photo: Iranian dissidents wave their national flagduring a demonstration Thursday July 10, 2008, in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, to have the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran [PMOI/MEK] removed from the EU terror list.(AP Photo/Christian Lutz)