Brussels, 30/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - In a judgment delivered on Wednesday 30 September, the Court of First Instance has annulled Council decisions freezing the funds of Philippines national Jose Maria Sison. The Council based its decisions on links between Sison and a terrorist organisation in the Philippines. The Court took the view, however, that the links had never been directly investigated or proved in court by competent national authorities, and that Sison, therefore, had not had the opportunity to defend himself against the allegations made.
The Council decision, annulled by Wednesday's ruling, to include Sison on the list of terrorists whose funds are to be frozen, was based on descriptions of his terrorist activities in his case notes compiled by the national authorities of the Netherlands, where he has been resident since 1987. These refer principally to Sison's application for refugee status and for a residence permit in that country: the notes refer to his terrorist past. Sison had been the head of the Philippines Communist Party (CPP), the military wing of which, the New People's Army (NPA), had been responsible for a large number of acts of terrorism in the Philippines. Sison's requests were rejected by the Dutch secretary of state for justice, a decision upheld by the Arrondissementsrechtbank te's-Gravenhage (The Hague District Court) in 1997.
The Court of First Instance, however, says that the decisions by the national authorities did not amount to decisions to “instigat[e] … investigations or prosecut[e] for a terrorist act” and could not, therefore be used as a basis for placing Sison's name on the Council list. The Hague District Court was ruling on Sison's right to the status of refugee and the granting of a residence permit, not on the veracity of the terrorism allegations. These allegations came principally from a file of the Netherlands internal security service (BVD), which Sison had not had the opportunity to contest. The Court of First Instance, then, annulled Sison's inclusion on the list of persons linked to terrorism whose funds are to be frozen. This refers to the latest updating of the list, in June 2009 (regulation (EC) n° 501/2009). (C.D./transl.rt)