UK Secretary of State: Mojahedin Assets still frozen in EU and UK

Source: Hansard, Thursday, 18 January 2007

Written answers, Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Iran

William Hague (Richmond (Yorks), Conservative) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications for the UK of the European Court Judgement of 12 December 2003 to annul the Council's decision to freeze the funds of the People's Mojahedin of Iran; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett (Secretary of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office) | Hansard source

On 12 December 2006, the Court of First Instance (CFI) of the European Community annulled the Council of the European Union's decision to add the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK, also known as l'Organisation des Moudjahiddines du peuple iranien or People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran) to its list of terrorist organisations subject to an EU-wide asset freeze.

The specific Council Decision of December 2005 annulled by the Court has been replaced by a subsequent Council Decision of May 2006. The EU-wide asset freeze against MeK is therefore still in force. The EU keeps all its terrorist asset freezing decisions under regular review.

The assets of this group are also frozen under UK domestic law. This is not affected by the CFI judgement, which is a technical decision on EU procedures. The Court did not rule on the substantive question as to whether the MeK is a terrorist group.

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