The judgment of the British court for removing the PMOI from the terrorist list was vastly covered by the international media. Part of the coverage is as follows:
Associated Press reported from London:
British court orders People’s Mujahedeen of Iran to be removed from UK list of terrorists
A British court ordered one of Iran’s most powerful opposition groups removed from the government’s list of terrorist organizations Friday. The decision by the Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission was an important victory for the group.
The group tries to overthrow the Iranian religious regime and is supported by the US legislators who are concerned about that regime’s efforts to produce nuclear weapon.
The group’s devoted following among Iranian exiles and its aggressive media operation has also helped it garner considerable sympathy in Europe. The group is backed by some European parliamentarians, and, in Britain, the effort to appeal its terrorist status was supported by 35 peers and lawmakers, including former Home Secretary David Waddington.
AP added: Outside the court, PMOI supporters danced, waved flags and chanted slogans amid a cloud of confetti after the decision was announced.
A statement released on behalf of Maryam Rajavi, the president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, identified by the U.S. State Department as the PMOI’s political wing, praised the decision and called on the European Union follow Britain’s example.
Press Association Agency reported:
The Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission (POAC), in central London, ruled that, given all the evidence, the decision not to remove the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) from the proscribed terrorist blacklist under the 2000 Terrorist Act was “perverse”.
“We recognize that a finding of perversity is uncommon,” the POAC ruled.
About 200 campaigners cheered and threw colorful confetti, blew horns and handed out sweets when Lord Corbett, chairman of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, broke the news on the steps of the POAC.
He told the jubilant crowd: “This is an historic day on the road to freedom and democracy for the Iranian people.”
Reuters reported:
The Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) wins appeal over UK terrorism list. A British tribunal ruled on Friday to remove Iran’s main opposition movement from a government a list of proscribed terrorist organizations.
Its 144-page final judgment document said there was no evidence of any attempt by the PMOI to “prepare” for terrorism or encourage others to commit acts of terrorism.
“Nor is there any material that affords any grounds for a belief that the PMOI was ’otherwise concerned in terrorism at the time of the decision in September 2006,” it said.
Following the judgment, Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI, called on the European Union (EU) to echo the appeal verdict and remove the group from its blacklist.
“We have always said and repeat again that the fundamental solution to the Iranian crisis is neither foreign military intervention nor appeasement,” she said in a statement.
“The solution is democratic change by the Iranian people and resistance, making it imperative to remove the barriers placed in the path of this resistance.”
Agence France Presse reported:
The British government was told Friday to take a key Iranian opposition movement off its list of proscribed terror organizations after the group won a court appeal.
Hossein Abedini, a member of the foreign affairs committee of the wider National Council of Resistance of Iran umbrella group, told AFP the judgment would have a “very big impact inside in Iran.”
The Guardian daily , published in Britain, wrote: The decision by the Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission (POAC) is a major victory for the People’s Mujahideen of Iran, which has been engaged in a long-running legal battle to be taken off the list POAC ruled that the decision not to remove the organization from the proscribed terrorist blacklist, drawn up under the 2000 Terrorist Act, was “perverse”.
“We recognize that a finding of perversity is uncommon,” POAC ruled.
POAC asked the Home Office to present the draft of order of removing the PMOI from the list to the Parliament.
BBC TV website announced:
Court rejects ban on Iran group. The British government has lost a court bid to keep Iran’s main OPPOSITION body on its list of banned terrorist groups.
The Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission in London ruled ministers must remove it from their blacklist.
BBC added: The PMOI, or Mujahideen-e Khalq, has been a thorn in Tehran’s side for more than two decades.
Al-Malaf website wrote:
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, described today’s ruling as a magnificent victory for justice, an acknowledgement of the righteousness of the Iranian Resistance and the PMOI. She called on the British government to accept and implement the judgment without delay and remove all restrictions emanating from the proscription.
Mrs. Rajavi emphasized: We have always said and repeat again that the fundamental solution to the Iranian crisis is neither foreign military intervention nor appeasement. The solution is democratic change by the Iranian people and Resistance, making it imperative to remove the barriers placed in the path of this Resistance.