The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has upheld a decision to remove the notorious Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from the EU’s list of terrorist organizations.
In 2008, the ECJ’s Court of First Instance ruled that the EU had been wrong in listing the MKO as a terrorist organization, since it had failed to provide the group with evidence that formed the basis of a decision to keep it on the terrorism list.
Following the court’s ruling, the European Union removed the MKO from its list of terrorist organizations in 2009.
France appealed against the decision, saying some of Paris’ closest allies still list the MKO as a terrorist organization. The ECJ, however, rejected the appeal.
MKO is designated as a terrorist organization under United States law, and has been described by State Department officials as a repressive cult.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up camp in Diyala Province, near the Iranian border.
MKO is known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
The group has also carried out numerous acts of terrorism against Iranian civilians and government officials.