In a rally in Stockholm, thousands of Iranians, Swedish political personalities condemn HRW’s biased report against PMOI
Participants support democratic change in Iran lead by Maryam Rajavi, call for removal of terror tag on PMOI
This afternoon, thousands of Iranians residing in Sweden took part in a demonstration in Stockholm’s Sergel Square to condemn the policy of appeasement vis-à-vis the clerical regime.
They also rejected foreign military intervention as a means for change and voiced support for the third option put forth by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, namely democratic change through the Iranian people and Resistance.
The demonstrators were carrying the tri-colored flag of Iran and portraits of the Resistance’s leaders. They called for the immediate revocation of the terror label against the main Iranian opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), describing the tag as a major impediment to democratic change in Iran.
Iranians also condemned the biased report by the U.S.-based organization, Human Rights Watch, against the PMOI, which they said was a catalogue of lies and baseless accusations churned out by the clerical regime and prepared with a political agenda.
The demonstrators said the fact that the report was timed with the growing support in Europe and the United States for the removal of the PMOI from the terrorist list as well as the presidential election sham in Iran showed that it was part of a dirty campaign to keep the PMOI on the list and an effort to assist the mullahs’ crisis-riddled regime.
They also denounced pressures exerted on Iranian refugees and asylum-seekers, reiterating that it was indispensable to the policy of appeasing the mullahs and submitting to their demands. The demonstrators called on the Swedish government to provide the necessary accommodations for refugees and asylum-seekers.
Noting the increasing possibility of the clerical regime obtaining nuclear weapons and the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, the demonstrators emphasized the need for the adoption of a decisive policy against the Iranian regime.
In a video message to the demonstrators, Mrs. Rajavi reiterated the illegitimacy of the upcoming presidential election farce in Iran, pointing out that Iranians would boycott the sham. “The other reality is that the election farce is tantamount to a funeral for the policy of appeasement and reform-maneuver within the religious dictatorship. This means that appeasement and reform pretenses are no longer tenable and the mullahs have no way out this time,” Mrs. Rajavi added.
She urged the international community to reject the mullahs’ presidential election sham and to declare the election farce illegitimate and stand with the Iranian people as they stand for democracy and freedom.
Mrs. Rajavi also condemned pressures exerted on refugees and asylum seekers, in particular women asylum seekers, in Sweden and said: “The policy of appeasement and collaboration by the Europeans has rendered those governments’ treatment of asylum seekers similar to fascistic conduct.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 21, 2005
