NCRI – Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, expressed her condolences on the passing away of Lord Slynn of Hadley, a distinguished Member of the British House of Lords, judge of the European Court of Justice and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, to his wife Lady Slynn, people of Great Britain and Honorable Members of Both Houses of Parliament, jurists, especially members of the International Committee of Jurists in Defence of Ashraf whose honorary president was Lord Slynn and the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom.
Mrs. Rajavi said that the memories of Lord Slynn, an honorable and distinguished defender of freedom and dignified jurist will remain for ever for his unforgettable service to promote justice in Europe and the world.
The Iranian history will never forget Lord Slynn as a great defender of the rights of Ashraf City residents and for his special role in the campaign to seek justice for the Iranian Resistance against the religious dictatorship in Iran and removal of the unjust terrorist label on the PMOI.
In the course of his defence for Camp Ashraf residents, he travelled twice to Ashraf. The first time it was shortly after the end of the war in Iraq in the summer of 2003. He produced several legal opinions and judicial memorandums and tirelessly defended the rights of Ashraf residents in his messages and various meetings in Europe and the United States. Until the very last days he followed up the developments of Ashraf with great concern.
In February 2008, Lord Slynn submitted a detailed complaint to the International Humanitarian Fact Finding Commission and called for its intervention to prevent violation of Ashraf residents’ rights.
Lord Slynn who believed that the terrorist label against the PMOI was unjust, was one of the most distinguished members of the House of Lords who along 34 other British lawmakers took a legal action against proscription of the PMOI. This led to annulment of the blacklisting of the PMOI by the Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission (POAC), which was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Between 2005 and 2008 Lord Slynn led the PMOI legal team in all three proceedings at the European Court of Justice which led to annulment of the unjust EU terror label against the PMOI. He used all his expertise and above all his reputation in these difficult battles to remove the injustice.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 8, 2009