Mrs. Piia-Noora Kauppi, Member of European Parliament, Leader of Finnish Delegation in the Group of the European People’s Party, in a speech in the gathering of more than 70,000 Iranian exiles in Paris on June 28, 2008 called on the EU Council to respect the rule of law by removing the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) from the EU terror list.
Text of speech by Mrs. Piia-Noora Kauppi, Member of European Parliament, Leader of Finnish Delegation in the Group of the European People’s Party:
I am so glad to be here today in this magnificent gathering of Iranians. But first of all I would like to say hello to members of the Iranian Resistance in Ashraf City who are watching this meeting right now. I send my best wishes to my sisters, the one thousand women of the PMOI [the People’s Mojhedin Organization of Iran (PMOI)] in Ashraf. These brave women who have confronted all pressures in the last five years are an inspiration to millions of women inside Iran who have been suffering under the religious dictatorship of the mullahs.
I am so happy that the PMOI was finally removed from the list of terrorist organizations in Britain. It took seven years. But the will of the European Parliament eventually triumphed. The majority of the European Parliament shares the view that the PMOI must be removed from the EU list immediately as stipulated in the European Parliament resolution passed on 31 January 2008. We want the EU Council to respect human rights, and the rule of law by removing the PMOI from the EU terror list.
I have very little respect for any government in the EU which tries to keep this organisation on the blacklist.
Therefore we are very proud and honoured as members of the European Parliament to have stood together with Maryam Rajavi and all of you.
In December 2006, Mrs. Rajavi was invited to address the EPP Group, which is the biggest political group in the European Parliament with over 280 members. I have met with her several times when she visited our Parliament. There is a great amount of sympathy for her, her movement and the Iranian people in the European Parliament.
These recent victories prove that we are on the right path. I feel very honoured to be part of the big family of the Iranian Resistance. I hope we would be able to one day celebrate the Iranian people’s attaining of freedom, democracy, gender equality, rule of law, and individual liberties in Tehran. That day will come.
