Brussels, 23/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a judgement on Thursday 23 October, the Court of First Instance (CFI) annulled the Council's decision to include the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) on the list of terrorist organisations established by the Council in December 2007 (Case T-256/07). The organisation's funds and assets are, however, still frozen. The PMOI also appears on the new list in force since July this year and is the subject of a case still pending before the Court.
In a press release from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), its president, Ms Maryam Rajavi, welcomed this result. The NCRI represents Iran's exiled political opposition, of which the PMOI was the armed wing until, as it says, it explicitly renounced all military activity in 2001. The CFI's decision is one of many other cases initiated by the PMOI since it was first added to the European list in 2001 (EUROPE 9326). The list constitutes implementation by the Council of the EU of the UN resolution of September 2001, calling on all its members to combat terrorism and terrorist financing.
The CFI's judgement on Thursday annuls Council Decision 2007/868/EC dating back to December 2007, in so far as it includes the PMOI organisation on the list of terrorist organisations. According to the judgement, the decision was a manifest mistake because it was essentially based on an initiative of the British government, which was condemned by the High Court of England and Wales as its decision did not contain a sufficient statement of reasons. On 30 November 2007, the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) ordered the Home Secretary to remove the PMOI from the list of organisations proscribed by the British authorities. The POAC describes as “perverse” and “unreasonable” the conclusion stating that the PMOI was still an organisation involved in terrorist activity. The British authorities stated before the CFI that they had “attempted” to appeal against this decision and that the inclusion of the PMOI should continue, pending settlement of the case at national level. The CFI retorted that the appeal attempt was also dismissed by the POAC and that the matter before the British court was therefore to be considered as closed.
The CFI therefore annuls the PMOI's inclusion on the December 2007 list of terrorist organisations. However, in the meantime, a new list has been drawn up in line with the obligation for half-yearly revision, and the PMOI is still on the list (Decision 2008/583/EC, approved in July 2008). The organisation has once more taken the matter before the CFI appealing the decision, but comes up against a procedural obstacle - the Council publishes its new lists more swiftly than the CFI is able to annul them (see EUROPE 9400). The first victory of the PMOI before the CFI in 2006 was the result of over one and a half years of procedural wrangling. Even under the new expedited procedure, as applied for this last referral (Case T-248/08), it is not certain the CFI will be able to give its ruling on the current list before it is revised again in December 2008 or January 2009. (C.D./transl.jl)