Bloomberg (AP), Paris, 17 Sep 2014 — French judges have thrown out terrorism-linked charges against nine members of an exiled Iranian opposition group, closing the last part of a case that began 11 years ago with mass arrests that provoked several deaths by protesters setting themselves afire.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed Wednesday the case against the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq was closed.
The co-leader of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, Maryam Rajavi said the decision was a “victory of justice and resistance over collaboration” between France and Iran.
An investigation for “financial infractions” was then opened against nine group members, but those charges were thrown out due to insufficient evidence, according to a statement by seven top lawyers handling the case.
“The justice (system) was manipulated by political and commercial considerations,” said William Bourdon, one of the lawyers. “This case never should have existed.”
The arrest and jailing of Rajavi led to protests by Mujahedeen supporters around Europe.
The lawyers claimed the French government mounted the charges as part of a “strategy of manipulation led by the Mullahs in power in Tehran.”