{mosimage}PRESS RELEASE - At a Parliamentary conference in the House of Commons on Thursday, more than a dozen cross-party parliamentarians from both Houses of Parliament demanded the Government comply with the verdict of the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission (POAC) and remove the name of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) from the proscribed list of terrorist organisations.
British lawmakers call on Government to comply with rule of law and remove Iran’s main opposition from terrorism list
PRESS RELEASE
{mosimage}At a Parliamentary conference in the House of Commons on Thursday, more than a dozen cross-party parliamentarians from both Houses of Parliament demanded the Government comply with the verdict of the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission (POAC) and remove the name of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) from the proscribed list of terrorist organisations.
On 30th November 2007, POAC determined that the ban on the PMOI was "perverse", "flawed" and "must be set aside". The verdict came after 35 MPs and Peers launched a legal challenge calling for the PMOI’s deproscription.
Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, head of the Labour Peers Group in the House of Lords, chaired the conference. The parliamentarians included Rt. Hon. Lord Slynn of Hadley, former Home Secretary Rt. Hon. Lord Waddington QC, Baroness Turner of Camden, Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen, Brian Binley MP (Con), Mark Williams MP (Lib Dem), Dr Rudi Vis MP (Lab), Roger Gale MP (Con), Lord Inglewood, Lord Tavern QC, Lord King of West Bromwich, Baroness Gould of Potternewton, Baroness Harris of Richmond and Lord Clarke of Hampstead. Other speakers included members of the legal team who won the POAC case, including Steven Grosz from Bindman & Partners and Masoud Zabeti, President of the Committee of Anglo-Iranian Lawyers. Hossein Abedini of the National Council of Resistance of Iran also addressed the meeting.
Brian Binley accused the British Government of following a “doomed policy of appeasement”. “The POAC verdict is not just a victory for the PMOI, but also a victory for our democratic legal system and for us all”, he said.
Commenting on the Government’s reaction to the verdict, Lord Waddington said the statement by Home Office Minister Tony McNulty was “absolutely extraordinary”.
He called the PMOI’s proscription in the UK “an insult to the Iranian people”. “Common sense and justice have combined to remedy a great wrong”, he added.
Describing the POAC judgement as a “great victory for justice”, Lord Waddington said it was the “steadfastness and inspirational leadership” of NCRI President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi that brought about this victory.
Lord Slynn of Hadley, a former UK Law Lord, said, “I don’t see any area to justify an appeal by the Government”.
Dr. Rudi Vis stated “we must make sure the Home Office not only accept the verdict but enhances it”.
Roger Gale said, “The Home Office has been caught out and found to be wrong. It does not like it and is now trying to wriggle free from it like a fish caught on a hook”. “They have said they will not de-list the PMOI in the face of both the EU and UK court judgements. Any reasonable politician must call this appeasement”.
Referring to the POAC verdict, Mr. Zabeti stated, “It is extremely significant that POAC rejected the documentation produced by the Secretary of State, including the ‘classified material’, and rejected the oral testimony of the Foreign Office official. The closed material included documentation from the Iranian regime and its agents, as well as all the wild and unsubstantiated allegations that have been made against the PMOI over the year”.
Baroness Gibson stated, “Now is the time for us once again to urge the British Government to adhere to the POAC decision, recognise the PMOI as the legitimate democratic opposition and remove it from the UK terrorism list”.
Mark Williams said, “The POAC verdict is fundamental to bringing about freedom and justice for the Iranian people and will have a definite impact on the situation of the Middle East”.
Stephen Grosz, the instructing solicitor for the 35 MPs and Peers, added, “The Secretary of State got the law wrong and ignored the evidence in this case…. Now, any appeal would only be on the points of law. The Government cannot get away from the matter of fact that the PMOI is not involved in terrorism”.
Addressing the Government of Gordon Brown, Hossein Abedini of the NCRI said, “The British legal system has called your decision ‘flawed’ and most significantly ‘perverse’. Take note of the judgement and adhere to it accordingly by laying an order before Parliament to remove the PMOI from the UK terrorism list”.
In reference to Tony McNulty’s comments after the verdict, Lord Corbett asked “How much of the fifteen volumes of evidence and twenty witness statements have you read to make such a statement? This whole case stinks and it is a charade”.
Baroness Harris concluded, “The battle is won but the war is not over yet. We send a message to the Iranian people and to PMOI members that the British Parliamentarians are behind you and will not rest until democratic change in your country is achieved”.
The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom
13 December 2007
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Note to editors:
The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom is comprised of over 50 Members of Parliament and Peers from across the political spectrum. It has the backing of the majority of MPs and more than 200 Peers in its endeavours for human rights and democracy in Iran.
The PMOI – Iran’s principal opposition force – is a member organisation in the main opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran. Some 120,000 of its members and sympathisers have been executed by the mullahs’ regime on political grounds. The NCRI was the first to alert the international community to the regime’s secret nuclear projects in August 2002.
The PMOI were proscribed in the UK by then-Home Secretary Jack Straw MP in 2001. The same proscription was used as the basis of the group’s inclusion in the EU’s terrorist list. On 12 December 2006, however, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in a landmark verdict “annulled” the EU’s decision to place the group in the terrorist list. At the UK Government’s bidding, the EU announced in June 2007 that it would maintain the PMOI in the list.