Brussels, 11/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - Following its victory at the European Court of First Instance last week, the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) is pulling out the stops to recover its frozen assets. On 4 December 2008, the Court of First Instance annulled PMOI's inclusion on the European list of terror organisations on the grounds of lack of proof in support of the terror allegations. This is the first time the Court has decided on an updated version of the blacklist, which is updated every six months (see EUROPE 9798).
Council sources hint that the new list will be drawn up in January 2009 and because the PMOI is no longer legally on the list, it will have to be added again if it is to appear on the updated list, but adding a new entry requires the explicit endorsement of all Member States. 'If there is only one Member State that says no, that wants to comply with the rule of law, then it's enough. Then the question is finished,' commented Spanish EPP-ED MEP Alejo Vidal Quadras, a member of the EP's 'Friends of a Free Iran' association. What about the gentlemen's agreement whereby Member States do not object if any country wants to add an organisation to the official list of terror organisations? Vidal Quadras said things had gong too far for the gentlemen's agreement to operate. Also, it is hard to see which Member State would take the initiative - the European Court declared the court cases against PMOI in the United Kingdom and France invalid and noted that the PMOI had not been banned in other Member States, said Mohammad Mohaddessin, chair of the foreign affairs committee of the National Resistance Council of Iran, of which PMOI is a member. Vidal Quadras told reporters in Brussels on 10 December 2008 that 'the moment has come to have a resolution from Parliament' on the matter.
French foreign ministry sources explained that France was examining the option of appealing against the Court of First Instance's ruling, possibly accompanied by a request for interim measures to postpone application of the ruling until the appeal case has been decided. Such interim measures are only allowed in certain circumstances. The Court of First Instance has to have made an error in law that is visible to the naked eye, in other words, that the security of the European Union is jeopardised, explained PMOI's lawyer Jean-Pierre Spitzer, who was highly sceptical about the conditions being met in the case in point.
PMOI entered proceedings this week with the French authorities to recover its assets, which were frozen when it was added to the European blacklist. A PMOI spokesperson said the proceedings had not yet advanced to a stage where it was possible to know whether the authorities would oppose release of the funds. (C.D. trans fl)