|
British Peers and MPs welcome European Court’s ruling in favour of PMOI |
|
|
|
|
Thursday, 18 January 2007 |
NCRI – In a statement on behalf of British MPs and Peers, Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, chairman of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom congratulated Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and the Iranian Resistance on the recent judgment made by the European Court of First Instance to annul decision by the Council of the European Union to freeze the funds of the PMOI. Text of the statement follows:
I wish to congratulate on behalf of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom and the majority of the members of the House of Commons and over 160 members of the House of Lords, Madam Rajavi and the Iranian Resistance on the recent judgment made by the European Court of First Instance.
This is a huge victory for the Resistance, the Iranian people and all those who support freedom and democracy in Iran. The judgment from The Court of First Instance, the second highest judicial authority in Europe annulled the decision by the Council of the European Union to freeze the funds of the PMOI. The court indicated that the judgment was made in favour of the PMOI as the original decision made by the Council infringed the right of the PMOI to a fair hearing, their right to have reasons for the decision stated to them and their right to effective judicial protection.
This judgment has once again shown up the lack of justification of the terrorist label against the PMOI and reaffirming the rights of the PMOI members based in Camp Ashraf. The Court’s judgment also indicated that placing the PMOI on the list was also wholly incorrect in relation to its political consequences. It reinforces what Madam Rajavi has indicated throughout this period, not war, not appeasement, but support for the Iranian people and their legitimate opposition is the way ahead in Iran.
The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom will do all in its power to persuade our government to end its policy of appeasement with the Iranian regime. Appeasement has simply had the affect of giving the regime more time to build its nuclear weapons.
Our government must now implement the European Court Judgement, by removing the PMOI from its list of proscribed organisations. This will be the first step in the right direction of supporting the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom. The PMOI is the legitimate opposition, which not only has the support of many politicians worldwide, but most importantly has the support of the Iranian people themselves. It is the Resistance that contests and confronts Tehran’s fundamentalism. The one thing the mullahs fear is what the Resistance offers, democracy. The West has tried being reasonable. Now it must be robust.
I would also wish to express my congratulations to the National Council of Resistance of Iran on the recent decision by the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on the Iranian regime. As has been much publicised the NCRI were the opposition that first exposed the Iranian regime’s secret nuclear weapons programme. The mullah's regime with a nuclear weapon is not only a threat to the region, but the most extreme threat to the world as we know it today.
Finally, I wish to once again on behalf of myself and my colleagues congratulate the Iranian Resistance on their success in the European Court of Justice. This is not simply a victory for the Resistance, but a success for all humanitarian and justice loving people throughout the world.
Lord Corbett of Castle Vale
Chairman, British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom |
