NCRI – In a joint statement, one hundred French senators called on the French Government to seize the opportunity of the rotating European Union’s presidency to implement the judgments of the European Court and the British Court, and remove the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI MEK) from EU’s list of terrorist organizations.
Translation from French of the text of press release
French Republic
Senate
Press Release
100 French Senators support democratic change in Iran proposed by Maryam Rajavi
Council of Ministers of European Union and the French Government must respect the EU Courts ruling that annuals the PMOI listing as terrorist organization.
In a joint statement, one hundred French senators called on the French Government to seize the opportunity of the rotating European Union’s presidency to implement the judgments of the European Court and the British Court, and remove the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI MEK) from EU’s list of terrorist organizations.
The declaration states: "It is for the Council of Ministers of the European Union, chaired by France, to implement the judgments of European Court of Justice and respect the will of elected representatives of the European peoples and remove PMOI (MEK) from EU’s list of terrorist organization. Marinating the PMOI on the list is tantamount to ignoring court decisions and violates the rule of law, which severely tarnishes the image of France as head of the European Union.
The signatories are from all political groups.
In Its third verdict on 4 December 2008, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities annulled the decision of 15 July 2008 EU Council against PMOI. The court said that the decision had violated the rights of the defense of PMOI, violated its fundamental right to effective judicial review and could be regarded as an abuse or misuse of power without being able to demonstrate that PMOI may have been involved in terrorism.
The verdict adds that in the dossier submitted by France to the Council of Ministers to maintain the PMOI on the terrorist list “there is no evidence” that based on serious and reliable “data” would prove the charges attributed to the PMOI. And they have not been assessed by "a competent French judicial authority" but rather by the "Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of French."
According to the signatories “a major obstacle to democratic change in Iran is the inclusion of the main opposition to the regime, PMOI, in the list of terrorist organizations of the European Union.”
They recalled that besides the European Court of Justice the British government formally removed PMOI from its blacklist on 24 June 2008 based on ruling by the Court of Appeal and unanimous vote by both houses of British parliament.”
While expressing deep regret at "the worsening of human rights situation in Iran, particularly with regard to public hangings, the execution of minors and mass arrests of young people and women," the senators said that "two decades negotiations to change the Iranian regime’s behavior have been counter-productive and has made the regime more arrogant in suppressing Iranian people and export of terrorism and its quest for atomic weapons.”
The proposals presented by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (CNRI) and its president-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi retain all the attention and support of the signatories.
The proposals reject both war and appeasement as solutions to the Iran crisis and offer a third option for democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized resistance movement.
Paris, December 16, 2008
Senator Jean-Pierre Michel, Committee on Laws (Socialist)
Senator Jean Marc Juilhard, Committee on Social Affairs (Union for a Popular Movement – UMP)