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In major Rally, 20,000 declare support for Maryam Rajavi

ImageParticipants say presidential election boycott reflected illegitimacy of regime
– Rajavi: Winners do not represent the Iranian people; they are Iran’s worst enemies

Yesterday afternoon, 20,000 Iranians and French citizens attended a gathering at Cergy soccer Stadium, north of Paris, on the anniversary of the disgraceful raid on the office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the arrest of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect. The participants called for the removal restrictions against the Iranian Resistance and the closing of the file in this case. They also declared that the nationwide boycott of the mullahs’ sham election reflected that the regime in its entirety was illegitimate and that indicated the desire of the Iranian people for the overthrow of the ruling theocracy.
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A large number of French citizens, dozens of parliamentarians from France and other countries, as well as representatives from scores of human rights organizations attended and addressed the rally.
As the keynote speaker, Mrs. Rajavi congratulated the Iranian people for the decisive and nationwide boycott of the elections. She said, “This boycott is a milestone on the road to achieving democracy and freedom. The composition of the candidates exposed the clerical regime’s all-out deadlock. The Supreme Leader failed to unipolarize the regime as both factions suffered from an unprecedented schism.”
Pointing to the background of the candidates that amounted to nothing but murder, terror and plunder, she added, “Those who would assume power as a result of this election are the Iranian people’s worst enemies and do not represent them. Appeasing this regime would be tantamount to a blatant participation in the suppression of the Iranian people and pave the way for greater export of terrorism and fundamentalism.”
Pointing to Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad who made it the second round of election, she said the choice for the Iranian people was nothing more than between two terrorists.
Mrs. Rajavi then asked those who planned the June 17 raid, “Did you hear the resounding ‘no’ by the Iranian people to the clerical regime… Now that two years after June 17, the terrorism allegation has been discredited, instead of acknowledging the truth, those involved in this case are raising bogus financial allegations.”
“Keeping this file open is a lever to restrict the legitimate and lawful activities of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and a lever to continue the deals with bloody fundamentalists. None of it has any legal and material justification. Indeed, we are facing new methods to suppress the Resistance movement,” she said.
The Iranian Resistance’s President-elect noted, “The clerical regime is facing the explosive discontent in society. However, it is neither interested nor capable of change or reform because that would lead to its overthrow.”
Outlining the Resistance’s platform, Mrs. Rajavi added, “The Iranian Resistance is committed to all the rights and freedoms stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international covenants. In Iran free of the mullahs’ oppression, we advocate and are committed to end capital punishment and annul all forms of barbaric punishments.”
A large number of parliament deputies, political, cultural, religious and human rights personalities attended and addressed the rally, which was sponsored by 30 French human rights and non-governmental organizations
In their speeches, Dominique Lefevbre, Mayor of Cergy and neighboring towns, Jean-Pierre Bequet, Mayor of Auvers-sur-Oise, Maurice Boscavert, Mayor of Taverny, Jean – Claude Wanner, Mayor of de Boisemont  and Jean-Pierre Muller, Mayor of Magny en Vexin and the first secretary of the Socialist Party Federation in Val d’Oise province assured Mrs. Rajavi that the people of Val d’Oise strong support the Iranian Resistance, which they have known for two decades and urge the French government to end its restrictions on the Resistance. The Mayor of Taverny presented the symbol of the town to Mrs. Rajavi. The Imam of Taverny mosque and a large number of Muslims from the town attended the rally and declared their solidarity with the Resistance.
The renowned French lawyer Henri Leclerc, Alan Vivien, former European Minister and former President of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Cults, Senator Isabelle Debré, Chafia Mentalecheta, a member of the Socialist Party’s Secretariat and  a representative of the Council of France’s Muslim Democrats, Mouloud Aounit, Secretary General of the French anti-racist movement MRAP, Pierre Bercis, President of the New Human Rights, Jean-Michel Bélorgey, former head of the parliamentary human rights group in France’s National Assembly. Emmanuel Lampert, Foreign Relations coordinator for UDF party, Jean-Paul Pichard, writer, Gilles Paruelle, former head of the Bar Association in Val d’Oise, Yves-Jean Gallas, national coordinator for the Peace Movement, Renée Le Mignot, International Relations Director of MRAP Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former Algerian Prime Minister, Lords Russell-Johnston and King, British MPs Andrew MacKinlay, and Dr. Rudi Vis, Dr. Abdullah Rasheed Al-Jabouri, former Governor of Iraq’s Diyala Province, and Paul Forseth, member of the Canadian Parliament, Norwegian MP Lars Rise and a Norwegian delegation, Belgian MP Jean Pierre Malmendier, Prof. Luigi Citarella, in internationally acclaimed jurist, and Secretary General of Italy’s Inter-ministerial Committee for Human Rights and a member of the Committee in defense of children in the United Nations, Mr. Frank Hammer, a member of Parliament of Brandenburg Province and Mrs. Ingrid Hotlzhuter, former member of the Bundestag, addressed the rally.
Jacques Loch, an official of Emmaus Liberté, read a message of solidarity by Abbe Pierre. Danielle Mitterrand, former French First Lady, Bernard Stasi, former French minister, Senator Robert Badinter, former Minister of Justice, Senators Michèle André, Vice President of the Senate, Jean-Pierre Michel, Alima Boumédiene-Thiery, André Vallet, Yvon Collin, Bernard Piras and members of the National Assembly, Marc Reymann, Pascal Terrasse, Georges Hage, Jean-Claude Abrioux, Jean-Pierre Blazy, Andrée Michel, the honorary Director of Research in National Center for Scientific Research and Serve Lacalvez of the national bureau of Human Rights league; Alejo Vidal Quadras, First Vice-President of the European Parliament, MEPs Struan Stevenson and  Paulo Casaca, head of the EP’s delegation to NATO, Vytautas Lansbergis, MEP and former President of Lithuania, Eva Britt Svensson, first Vice President of the Left Alliance and Vice President of the Commission on Women, Piia-Noora Kauppi, President of Finland’s Democratic, Conservative Christians, Mogens Camre, Vice President of the Group for Union in Europe, Italian MPs Pier Paolo Cento and Luigi Giacco, Senators Key Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), James Talent, Christopher Bond (R-MO), Representatives Bob Filber (D-CA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Diana Degette (D-CO), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Al Green (D-TX), Ted Poe (R-TX) and John Boozman (R-AR), Lords Corbett, Alton, Clarke and MPs David Amess and Jonathan Shaw from Britain, Ezzam Al-Ahmad, former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the government of Palestine and current Parliament Deputy, Hodeh Ghavvas, Jordanian MP,  as well as parliamentarians from other European countries sent video or written messages to the rally to voice support for the Iranian Resistance and its President-elect and demand an end to restrictions against the resistance movement.
A delegation of residents of Auver-sur-Oise and Val d’Oise addressed the really and condemned the June 17 police raid, declaring full support for Mrs. Rajavi and the Iranian Resistance.
Delegations of Iranian athletes and national champions also attended and addressed the rally. A young female athlete presented her medals to the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect. At the end of the event, the family of martyrs joined Mrs. Rajavi in laying wreath at the martyrs’ memorial.
A number of French and Iranian musical artists performed in this gathering.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
June 19, 2005