Paris Court of Appeals overturns restrictions on Maryam Rajavi, NCRI officials

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Sunday, June 18, 2006

On the eve of the third anniversary of the June 17 raid on the central office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and homes of dozens of Iranian political refugees and dissidents, Paris Court of Appeals in separate rulings revoked all restrictions on Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance's President-elect, and all those arrested on June 17, 2003. The rulings came while the investigative magistrates were insisting on continuing the restrictions.

For the past three years, Mrs. Rajavi and 16 members and supporters of the Iranian Resistance had been under judicial restrictions including the denial of the right to travel, entry to the headquarters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Auvers-sur-Oise, and the right to have contact with each other.

Mrs. Rajavi welcomed the verdict and said, "The case was conceived at the request of the fascist theocracy ruling Iran and was solely based on lies churned out by this regime. With the latest ruling, the time has come for this dossier to be brought to an end and all proceedings halted.", "The shameful June 17, 2003 raid was a futile attempt to destroy Iran's democratic opposition and aid the Iranian regime. If resistance against religious despotism for freedom is considered a crime, then I and all members and supporters of the Resistance proudly accept this crime. We are determined to establish democracy in Iran. Nothing can save the clerical regime from its inevitable fall and nothing can stop the Iranian nation from attaining freedom and democracy," she added.

Following the court ruling, dozens of Iranian and French sympathizers of the Resistance went to Mrs. Rajavi's residence in Auvers-sur-Oise, to congratulate her. Mayors of Auvers-sur-Oise and Cergy, in the northern Paris province of Val d'Oise also joined the celebrations.

NCRI Lawyers statement

Lawyers involved in the case welcomed the decision by the Paris court of appeals to remove all restrictions imposed on Mrs. Rajavi in a press release issued on Friday. They described the reasons presented by the investigative magistrates to reject the appeal as baseless, "The whole case was based on one sided and biased claims and extremely suspicious witnesses who were obviously in contact with Iran's secret services," said the statement.

The lawyers stressed that the investigative magistrates should now draw the necessary conclusions and admit to the emptiness of the file against members of the Resistance and remove prosecution orders. "This was done three years ago to please Tehran," the statement added, "and it is now clear that it was aimed to win commercial contracts."

"Today, no appeasement is acceptable especially after the worrying trend taken by the clerical regime over this period which was largely envisaged by Mrs. Rajavi," concluded the statement. Full text of Maryam Rajavi's Speech

Background

Shortly after 6AM on Tuesday, June 17, 2003, 1,300 hooded and heavily-armed French policemen and Special Forces from a dozen security and intelligence agencies, equipped with armored cars, helicopters and boats, launched the largest police operation in three decades to raid 13 offices and homes of Iranian refugees. The main target was the office of the National Council at Auvers-sur-Oise. Police arrested Rajavi, the NCRI's President-elect and 164 Iranian political refugees and activists.

Hours after the raids, three leading human rights organizations in France - The Human Rights League, France Liberté foundation and the International Federation of Human Rights - issued a strongly-worded joint statement condemning the action.

Crackdown on Iranian Resistance in France turns into a scandal

Sources

National Council of Resistance of Iran. "Jurists welcomed French court decision to remove restrictions on NCRI members" — National Council of Resistance of Iran, June 17, 2006

Reuters. "French court eases restrictions on exiles" — IOL, June 16, 2006

"Crackdown in France turns into a scandal" — June 18, 2003

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