Following the verdict of the European Court of First Instance this morning which ordered the removal of the People's Mojahedin of Iran from the EU Terror List; the Friends of a Free Iran inter-group in the European Parliament (FOFI) which includes a large number of MEPs from different political groups, calls on the Council to make an official announcement acknowledging the removal of PMOI from this list and agreeing to make redress for all the harm and damages inflicted on the Iranian resistance and its leadership.

By placing the PMOI on the blacklist, the West effectively closed the door on any prospects for democratic change in Iran and deprived the world of the most important means for creating that change.

Struan Stevenson, Co-Chair of FOFI, informed a packed chamber in the plenary today: "I wish to inform my distinguished colleagues in the House that this morning, the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, ordered the removal of the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) from the EU Terror List. This is the third time that the EU Courts have ordered the removal of the PMOI from the Terror List and it should come as an abject warning to the Council and the Commission that their attempts to appease the mullahs and the oppressive regime in Tehran by placing the PMOI on the EU Terror List is an offence against freedom and an offence against liberty."

The Court demonstrated that neither the EU Council nor the French government had any documentary evidence against the Mojahedin and were unable to produce even the minimum defence of their illegal actions to the court. The judges were particularly critical that the French Government and the Council refused to provide the court with a summary of their alleged evidence which had been circulated around the governments of all 27 EU Member States. This was the clearest proof yet of attempts by both the French Presidency and the Council to place themselves above the rule of law in their efforts to appease Tehran.

"We entirely agree with Mrs Maryam Rajavi, President-Elect of the Iranian resistance, who said: "The ruling was a heavy blow to the government of France for its shameful use of an empty file. In order to please the religious fascists ruling Iran, France undermined all judicial and ethical principles when they called for keeping the Mojahedin on the list."

The court's press release underscored that the verdict was issued only one day after the hearing session, the quickest process of its kind. We call on the Council not to act above the rule of law. The EU and also the US should immediately remove PMOI from their black lists.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice-President of the European Parliament

Struan Stevenson, Vice-President of EPP-ED
Co-Chair of Friends of a Free Iran

Paulo Casaca
Co-Chair of Friends of a Free Iran