Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European Parliament and honorary President of the Friends of a Free Iran Inter-group attended a hearing of the European Court of First Instance (CFI) in Luxembourg today on the case of the main Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) against the Council of the European Union.
The following is a press release by his office:
Press Release
6 March 2008
Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European Parliament and honorary President of the Friends of a Free Iran Inter-group attended a hearing of the European Court of First Instance (CFI) in the case of People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) against the Council of the European Union on Thursday 6 March 2008.
The CFI annulled the Council decision to include the PMOI in the EU terror list on 12 December 2006. But, in a clear breach of the judgment, the Council refused to remove the PMOI and in a new decision in June 2007 maintained the PMOI in the list.
In the hearing, the PMOI lawyers, David Vaughn QC and Jean Pierre Spitzer, argued that the listing of the PMOI was a clear abuse of power as the council had failed to even present a single piece of relevant evidence to justify its decision.
They pointed out that the listing must be on precise information indicating that the entity is engaged in terrorism or preparing for terrorism. They further highlighted that listing the PMOI had greatly restricted the activities of the PMOI as a democratic organisation. They also attacked the Council for its failure to remove the PMOI from the terror list following the CFI judgment.
The PMOI demanded from the court:
To declare that the Council has breached the terms of the Court judgment and particularly that of paragraph 35 by maintaining the PMOI on the list of terrorist organizations by the decision of 29 May 2006 and until the decision of 28 December 2007, have been without any legal basis and that the Council could not do so in the future.
Also to declare that by adopting the two decisions of 2007, the Council has clearly ignored the obvious facts and committed an abuse of power.
To declare that by adopting the two decisions of 2007, the Council has violated fundamental principles, including respect for the rights of defence and the obligation to give reasons.
And accordingly:
To annul the two decisions of 2007 so far as it concerns the PMOI, primarily for abuse of power and / or violation of the rules in assessing the merit of the case, and for violating the fundamental principles.
Dr. Vidal-Quadras noted, ëDuring the hearing, once again, it became very clear that the Council had acted unlawfully by including the PMOI in the black list. PMOI is a democratic organisation which is engaged in a legitimate resistance against a religious dictatorship and to establish democracy in Iran.
The Vice-President of the European Parliament added :the Council is no longer following the rule of law. This is particularly the case because on 30 November 2007, a UK specialized court ruled that the PMOI terror listing by the British Home Secretary was "perverse" and had to be set aside. This judgment undermined the Council reliance on a competent national authority to justify maintaining the PMOI on the terror list. The time has come for the Council to comply with its obligations and remove the PMOI from the terror list.
Several jurists and other dignitaries such as Lord Slynn of Hadley, former judge at the European Court of Justice, Piia-Noora Kauppi and Tunne Kelam, two heads of national delegations in the ruling EPP-ED party at the European Parliament, Alain Vivian, France’s former Minister of Europe, Sid Ahmad Ghozali, former Algerian Prime Minister, Bishop Jacques Gaillot, and Judge Colcombet also attended the hearing.
Office of Alejo Vidal-Quadras
Brussels
