Associated Press
December 20, 2006

BRUSSELS (AP)–Some European Union lawmakers and an exiled Iranian resistance movement Wednesday urged the E.U. and the U.S. to remove the Paris-based group quickly from their lists of terrorist organizations.

“Something must be done immediately to remove the People’s Mujahadeen of Iran from all terror lists,” said Struan Stevenson, a Conservative member of the European Parliament.

Last week, the European Court of Justice overturned an E.U. decision in 2002 to freeze the assets of the People’s Mujahadeen of Iran, or PMOI.

Despite the ruling, the E.U. has not removed the organization from its list of terrorist organizations or freed its assets. The E.U. said the court ruling didn’t call into question its blacklist, which includes groups and people like Osama bin Laden, Hamas and al-Qaida.

But Spanish E.U. lawmaker Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca hailed the ruling, saying it obliged the authorities to end sanctions against PMOI. He described the decision to ban the group in 2002 as a “politically motivated goodwill gesture toward the Iranian government.”

He said that instead of encouraging moderates in Iran, the gesture had resulted in greater intransigence by Tehran on issues such as its nuclear program.

The mujahedeen were originally set up in the mid-1960s to oppose the U.S.-backed dictatorship of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

At the time, a Marxist splinter group within the PMOI carried out several attacks on Iranian security forces in which six U.S. advisers died. This was cited by the U.S. State Department as justification for placing the mujahedeen on its terror list in the mid-1990s.

After the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the shah, the group was exiled to Iraq, from where they carried out cross-border raids during the 1980-88 war between the two countries. Several thousand of its members were disarmed by U.S. forces after Saddam’s overthrow in 2003 and restricted to an army camp near Baghdad.

Mohammad Mohaddessin, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran -an umbrella group that includes the PMOI – called on the U.S. State Department to take note of the court decision and remove the group from its own blacklist.

THe New York Times
December 13, 2006
By CRAIG S. SMITH

PARIS, Dec. 12 — Europe’s second highest court on Tuesday annulled a European Union decision that had frozen the funds of an exiled Iranian opposition group and called into question the group’s label as a terrorist organization.

The ruling by the European Court of First Instance was more than a financial victory for the group, the Mujahedeen Khalq, or People’s Holy Warriors, which has long argued that its terrorist label is unfair.

The European court ruled that the European Union had not provided adequate reasons or a fair hearing in deciding to freeze the organization’s assets in 2002, and that the decision “must be annulled.”

The European Union issued a statement in response to the ruling saying that the organization remained on the terrorist list and that it would consider appealing to the higher European Court of Justice.

“All restrictions resulting from the terror tag should be removed from the Iranian resistance immediately,” the group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi, said during a visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. She said that the ruling proved that her organization was a legitimate resistance movement rather than a terrorist group.

The Mujahedeen Khalq was formed by leftist students in Iran in 1965 and quickly became one of the most active groups opposing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. But the Islamic government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini turned against the group after the shah’s overthrow in 1979.

The group moved its headquarters to France and then to Iraq in 1986, when it set up a well-financed military base under the protection of Saddam Hussein. The American military disarmed the militia in May 2003 and has since kept its members confined to the camp near Baghdad.

Ms. Rajavi remained in Paris, in charge of the group’s political activities as head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. She has been lobbying to be taken seriously as a viable opposition movement to topple the theocracy in Iran.

She argues that the organization has been unfairly labeled a terrorist organization out of the West’s misguided efforts to engage the Iranian government, and that the only real hope to effect change in Iran, short of war, is to support her organization and give it free rein.

Those hopes are not without some foundation: the fact that the group’s Iraqi military base is, in effect, under United States protection suggests that Washington may yet envision a role for the group if relations with Iran deteriorate further.

Wall Street Journal
December 13, 2006

BRUSSELS — The European Court of Justice overturned a European Union decision to freeze the assets of Mujahedin-e Khalq, an exiled Iranian resistance movement that is on the bloc’s terrorism blacklist.

The court’s ruling annuls a 2002 decision to freeze all European assets of the Paris-based group, also known by the acronym MEK. It was the first time an appeal to the EU’s terrorism list was successful at the Luxembourg-based court.

EU legal officials stressed that EU governments wouldn’t immediately remove the exile group from their terrorism list, arguing they had to study the full ruling of the court before any decisions will be made.

“For the time being they are on the list,” said Jean-Claude Piris, legal counsel to the 25 EU governments. “But we have to examine it as soon as possible.”

EU governments said in a statement that the court’s ruling didn’t call into question the EU’s antiterrorism list, which includes top terrorist groups and suspects like Osama bin Laden, Palestinian group Hamas, and al Qaeda. It added that the judgment also didn’t call into question a decision by EU governments that MEK is a terrorist organization.

The U.S. also lists the group as a terrorist organization. The group, founded by students at Tehran University in the 1960s, insists it advocates the overthrow of Iran’s hard-line clerical regime in Tehran by peaceful means.

International Herald Tribune
By Craig S. Smith
December 13, 2006

PARIS – Europe’s second-highest court on Tuesday annulled a European Union decision that had frozen the funds of an Iranian exile group and called into question the group’s label as a terrorist organization.

The ruling by the European Court of First Instance was more than a financial victory for the group, the Mujahedeen Khalq, which has long argued that its terrorist label was unfair.

“All restrictions resulting from the terror tag should be removed from the Iranian resistance immediately,” the group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi, said at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. She said that the ruling proved that her organization was a legitimate resistance movement rather than a terrorist group.

The Mujahedeen Khalq was formed by leftist students in Iran in 1965 and quickly became one of the most active groups opposing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. But the Islamic government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini turned against the group after the shah’s overthrow in 1979. It moved its headquarters to France and then to Iraq in 1986, where it set up a well-financed military based under the protection of Saddam Hussein. The U.S. military disarmed the militia in May 2003 and has since kept its members confined to a camp north of Baghdad since then.

Rajavi remained in Paris, in charge of the group’s political activities as head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. She has been lobbying for the group to be taken seriously as a viable opposition movement to topple the Islamic theocracy in Iran.

She says the organization has been unfairly labeled a terrorist organization out of the West’s misguided efforts to engage the Iranian government, and that the only real hope to effect change in Iran short of war is to support her organization and give it free rein.

Those hopes are not without some foundation: The fact that the group’s Iraqi military base is, in effect, under U.S. protection, suggests that Washington may yet envision a role for the group if relations with Iran deteriorate further.

The European court ruled Tuesday that the EU had not provided adequate reasons or a fair hearing in deciding to freeze the organization’s assets in 2002 and that the decision “must be annulled.” The EU issued a statement in response to the ruling saying that the organization would remain on the terrorist list and that it would consider appealing to the higher European Court of Justice.

Reuters
December 12, 2006
By Michele Sinner

LUXEMBOURG, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Europe’s second-highest court on Tuesday annulled an EU decision freezing the funds of an exiled Iranian opposition group that argues it was wrongly placed on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations.

The Court of First Instance ruling faulted the EU for not giving adequate reasons or a fair hearing. It is likely to infuriate Tehran and may have wider implications for EU policy of banning alleged terrorist groups and freezing their assets.

EU member states ordered the freezing of funds of the People’s Mujahideen (OMPI) in 2002. The armed wing of the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) stated that it has renounced military activity since 2001.

The NCRI called the court decision “a great victory”, but the head of the EU Council’s legal service, Jean-Claude Piris, said he did not know if the group would get its assets back.

The court ruling said: “The court finds that the decision ordering the freezing of the OMPI’s funds does not contain a sufficient statement of reason and that it was adopted in the course of a procedure during which the right of the party concerned to a fair hearing was not observed.”

“Accordingly that decision must be annulled in so far as it concerns the OMPI.”

The EU Council’s Secretariat, representing the 25 member states, said it would consider appealing on points of law to the higher European Court of Justice.

A Council statement played down the implications, saying the court had not annulled the regulation establishing the terrorism list, or other persons or entities named on it.

It also said the EU intended to implement procedures sought by the court to provide those targeted with a statement of reasons and a possibility to challenge the listing.

Piris said EU states would look at the case again and added: “When a decision in Council (is annulled) because you have not respected the procedures, it does not mean you have not the right to take the same decision based on the right procedures.”

“REMOVE TERROR TAG”
NCRI leader Maryam Rajavi called the ruling “proof of the resistance’s legitimacy over religious fascism in Iran”.

“All restrictions resulting from the terror tag should be removed from the Iranian resistance immediately, and unfair treatment that culminates from it should stop at once,” she said during a visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Saad Djebbar, a British human rights lawyer who has appealed to the European courts to overturn a U.N.-mandated assets freeze on Saudi businessman Yassin Kadi, welcomed the ruling but said it should also cover EU action implementing U.N. asset freezes.

“The good news is that they accepted the principle that when there is a lack of due process, it contradicts the EU judicial and legal culture,” Djebbar told Reuters. “But this should be applied across the board.”

The NCRI said the Iranian government had used the EU decision to justify repression of OMPI sympathizers in Iran and to try to restrict its activities abroad.

The OMPI, labeled a terrorist group in the EU and the United States, has devoted followers on both continents and was the first body to expose Iran’s covert nuclear program.

But diplomats and Iran analysts say it has little support within Iran, where few can forgive it for siding with Saddam Hussein in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

The NCRI complained that the group was added to the EU terrorist list under pressure from Tehran at a time when Western countries were trying to improve relations with Iran.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Paul Taylor in Brussels)
REUTERS

Bloomberg News
By Patrick Donahue
December 12, 2006

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) — The European Union must reverse a funding freeze on an Iranian opposition organization because the EU didn’t give sufficient reason for accusing the group of supporting terrorism, Europe’s second-highest court ruled.

The People’s Mujahedeen of Iran was unfairly denied a chance to review the legal basis of the EU’s decision, the Luxembourg- based European Court of First Instance said in a statement today.

EU governments in May 2002 included the group, which was formed in 1965 to push for the overthrow of the Iranian Shah, on a list of suspected terrorist groups. The list, established in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, designated organizations whose funding should be frozen as part of the fight against terrorism, according to the court’s ruling.

The court said the EU had kept the Mujahedeen on the list through numerous negotiated updates, even though the group had “renounced all military activity” in June 2001. The group had maintained an armed branch within Iran, the court said. The U.S. and the United Nations both consider it a terrorist organization.

The European Council is examining the decision, spokesman Jesus Carmona said after the ruling. The court’s decision could be appealed to the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court.

The Mujahedeen, which describes Iran’s current leadership as “religious fascism,” called on the EU to reimburse its members for damages.

“Today, one of the highest judicial authorities in Europe confirmed the Iranian Resistance’s claim that the terrorist label from the beginning was a political issue which was meant to appease the mullahs,” Mujahedeen’s president-elect Maryam Rajavi said in an e-mailed statement.

The case is T-228/02, Organisation des Modjahedines du peuple d’Iran v Council of the European Union.

Agence France Presse
December 12, 2006

LUXEMBOURG – A European court annulled Tuesday a decision to freeze the assets of the main Iranian opposition group abroad, a move that could result in its removal from the EU terror list.

The Court of First Instance, Europe’s second-highest, ordered the EU to cancel a decision from May 2002 to freeze the funds of the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (OMPI), which claims it should not be on the terror blacklist.

“It could imply the withdrawal from the list,” a court spokeswoman said.

The Luxembourg-based tribunal found that “the decision ordering the freezing of the OMPI’s funds does not contain a sufficient statement of reasons and that it was adopted in the course of a procedure during which the right of the party concerned to a fair hearing was not observed, and that it is not in a position to review the lawfulness of that position.”

“Accordingly that decision must be annulled in so far as it concerns the OMPI,” it said in a statement.

Founded in 1965 with the stated aim of replacing first the Shah’s and then the clerical regime in Iran with a democratically elected government, OMPI has in the past operated an army inside Iran.

It was the armed wing the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) but it announced in June 2001 that it had renounced violence.

Exiled Iran opposition leader Maryam Rajavi — who has residency in France, regularly visits Brussels and despite the ban has been tolerated by the European authorities — welcomed the court’s decision.

“Today one of the highest judicial authorities in Europe confirmed the Iranian resistance’s claim that the terrorist label from the beginning was a political issue which was meant to appease the mullahs,” she said.

“All restrictions resulting from the terror tag should be removed from the Iranian resistance immediately,” she said in a statement, read to AFP by a Brussels-based spokesman.

The group said the decision was “proof of the resistance’s legitimacy over the religious fascism in Iran and a victory of justice over economic interests.”

The EU blacklist was drawn up late in 2001, following the September 11 attacks that year in New York and Washington and is revised regularly.

The radical Palestinian group Hamas and the former Basque separatist party Batasuna are among those on it.

The bloc began freezing the funds of groups on it that December.

It did so to implement a UN Security Council resolution calling on all states to fight terror funding, which was adopted in the wake of the suicide hijackings.

Associated Press
December 12, 2006
By CONSTANT BRAND

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The European Court of Justice on Tuesday overturned an EU decision to freeze the assets of the People’s Mujahadeen of Iran, an exiled Iranian resistance movement which is on the bloc’s terror blacklist.

The court’s ruling annuls a 2002 decision to freeze all European assets of the Paris-based group, also known by the acronym MEK. It was the first time an appeal to the EU’s terror list was successful at the Luxembourg-based EU court.

EU legal officials stressed that EU governments would not immediately remove the exile group from their terror list, arguing they had to study the full 45-page ruling of the court before any decisions will be made.

“For the time being they are on the list,” said Jean-Claude Piris, legal counsel to the 25 EU governments. “But we have to examine it as soon as possible.”

EU governments said in a statement that the court’s ruling did not call into question the EU’s anti-terror list, which includes top terror groups and suspects like Osama bin Laden, Palestinian group Hamas, and al-Qaida. It added that the judgment also did not call into question a decision by EU governments that the Mujahadeen is a terrorist organization.

“This case was annulled because of procedure,” said Piris.

The U.S. also lists the group as a terrorist organization. But the group, founded by students at Tehran University in the 1960s, insists it advocates the overthrow of Iran’s hard-line clerical regime in Tehran by peaceful means.

In its ruling, the court said the group was not given a fair hearing to defend itself against the move to blacklist it.

“Certain fundamental rights and safeguards, including the right to a fair hearing, the obligation to state reasons and the right to effective judicial protection are, as a matter of principle, fully applicable,” the court said in a statement.

The court ruling said there was “a distinction” between Mujahadeen’s appeal to the EU court and previous cases filed with the Luxembourg-based court to have names removed from the list.

The EU court last July dismissed requests by two terror suspects to annul the bloc’s moves to freeze their assets under a U.N. anti-terror order. The court said the exiled Iranian group was added to the list under EU law, and not under a U.N. order, as with the others, so EU governments are “bound to observe” fundamental rights under EU law.

Piris said the ruling would likely force a change in how EU governments add groups or persons to the list, suggesting that rules include informing those suspects after they have been added to the list, so they can exercise their right to appeal the decision at the EU’s high court.

The list, set up after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 and which was last updated in May, is done in secret by a special committee of security representatives from each member state.

The blacklist currently contains 45 people and 48 groups or entities believed to be involved in terrorist activities.

Reacting to the court’s decision, Iranian resistance leader Maryam Rajavi called for the immediate lifting of all restrictions on the organization and described the ruling as “proof of the resistance’s legitimacy over the religious fascism in Iran and victory of justice over economic interests.”

“Today, one of the highest judicial authorities in Europe confirmed the Iranian resistance’s claim that the terrorist label, from the beginning, was a political issue which was meant to appease the mullahs,” she said in a statement issued in Paris.