More on Students Day in Iran; 1160 French Mayors Support Iranian Opposition Group
This is probably the best report on the Student Day demonstrations in Iran. Click the link for incredible video of a student protesting Ali Larijani, Iran’s former nuclear negotiator who is now speaker of the Iranian parliament called the Majilis. Students Day was originally used by the anti-American and anti-Shah forces to protest the British/American-backed coup that got rid of Mossadegh, but is now more about protesting the mullahs. Click the link for some videos showing just how intense and expansive the student crowds were. As I said in a previous post, over 3000 students demonstrated at Tehran University alone according to some reports, and Ayatollah Khamenei had to cancel his planned speech.
And in other news, 1,160 mayors in France have signed a declaration calling on the European Union to de-list the PMOI (People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran) as a terrorist organization. Although PMOI’s credentials as a democratic Iranian opposition group is hotly debated among Western experts and Iranian dissidents, Americans should be embarassed that Europe is taking the lead in supporting freedom and regime change in Iran (even if one disagrees with the group they are supporting).
The source I linked to in this post provides some recent history on the PMOI’s legal battles:
“The initiative takes place a week after the Court of First Instance of the European Communities annulled the terrorist designation of the PMOI. In its December 4th verdict, the Court stated that the Council had violated the PMOI’s rights of defense and had deprived them of effective judicial protection. The ruling affirms that the allegations presented by France as the basis of the Council’s decision to list the PMOI had not relied on serious and credible clues or evidence. The allegations were not against the PMOI as such, but against persons alleged to be members of the organization, and so the Council could not expand those charges to encompass the PMOI. In addition, the allegations had come from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and not from a competent judicial authority.”
A similar legal battle was fought in the United Kingdom, where the government fought hard to keep PMOI on the list of terrorist organizations. The court ruled in favor of the group, and it has been de-listed.
