Paris, June 23 2012 - Well, thank you for such a wonderful welcome.  Before I start can I welcome the delegation from the European Parliament with me today.  The vice president of the Parliament, Alejo Vidal-Quadras.  [applause] And the great hero of Estonia, [0:01:53].  And one of the great supporters of the PMOI, NCRI from Poland, Ryszard Czarnecki.  [applause]

Ladies and gentlemen, we had a very interesting week in the European Parliament this week.  Last weekend I received from my secretariat for my delegation for relations with Iraq I received notification that the Iraqi embassy in Brussels had sent a list of 14 names of senior Iraqis who were apparently going to come to Brussels on Tuesday last week and were asking for a meeting.  They wanted to attend the routine monthly meeting of my delegation for relations with Iraq.  There were no designations next to any of these 14 names.  So I immediately e-mailed the list to my friends in Ashraf, and back came the list with all the designations.  [applause]  But let me tell you; let me tell you that this list contained the deputy foreign minister.  It contained the name of George (Bakus) from the office of the prime minister.  But it also contained several prominent members of military and intelligence, including the notorious Colonel Sadiq, now the commanding officer in Camp Liberty.  [applause] And as we all know, Colonel Sadiq has been indicted by the judges in Spain for his complicity in the alleged murder of 47 people in the two massacres in Camp Ashraf and his involvement in torture and oppression.  So, I immediately gave instructions that this man must be stopped from entering the European Parliament.  He must have his security badge removed. [applause] And I waited in the meeting room on Tuesday, waiting for this delegation from Iraq to arrive.  And they were 20 minutes late because when they arrived at the door of the European Parliament the security officials stripped Colonel Sadiq of his security pass and they would not allow him in the building.  [applause] Ladies and gentlemen, we do not welcome alleged murderers in the European Parliament.  [applause]

So, the delegation from Iraq were looking very red-faced and angry when they finally arrived.  And we had a very confrontational meeting.  We were told by George (Bakus) that the people in Liberty and the people in Ashraf have no legal status inside Iraq, that they are not entitled to be called refugees and that they are all terrorists.  And Alejo Vidal-Quadras then said to them, "You're the ones who murdered these people.  You seem to be proud of the fact that you murdered them."  [applause] But you know, you know the appalling thing about this whole episode was that on Monday there was a press conference in Washington at the State Department, and a senior official from the State Department told the press, "We, the United States, are proud to support this group coming from Baghdad to Brussels."  The State Department were proud to support a delegation that contained an alleged murderer.  [booing] Well, you know you've heard, you've heard a lot today bout the behavior of the State Department.  You've heard a lot about how low they have stooped.  But this really was scraping the barrel.  Now, we have sent a lesson back to Iraq, because Colonel Sadiq was arrested here in Paris.  [applause] And he, he has now been released, but the case is open.  He's been released on bail.  He has returned to Iraq, but I can assure you Nouri Al-Maliki will think twice before he sends someone like that to Brussels again.  [applause]

So ladies and gentlemen, you know this has been a Clinton project from day one.  It was Bill Clinton who first listed the PMOI/NCRI in the States as an act of appeasement to the mullahs.  It's Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State who is insisting on defying her own federal courts and keeping them on the list.  That is an outrage and a disgrace.  [applause] There is no point in trying to appease the mullahs in Tehran.  Regime change is the only answer.  [applause] You know we have a situation where 2,000 of these freedom fighters, these are unarmed civilian refugees are now trapped in half a square kilometer in Camp so-called Liberty.  And the Iraqi regime is trying to encourage us to, trying to impose their will upon us to move the remaining thousand from Ashraf to Camp Liberty where they are living in intolerable conditions with inadequate humanitarian concerns being dealt with.  Well, I can tell you now that the designation by the United Nations of Camp Liberty as a Temporary Transit Location is completely bogus.  People have been there for four months.  It's a refugee camp.  It must be redesignated and their rights must be completely adhered to. [applause] 

Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to fight for a free and democratic Iran.  [applause] We're here today to pledge our support for the oppressed millions in Iran.  [applause] We're here to thank the frontline freedom fighters in Ashraf and Liberty.  Back in 1320, almost all of the senior nobles in my country of Scotland signed a historic document called the Declaration of Arbroath.  The words from that document were echoed years later in the U.S. Declaration of Independence.  I want to quote you some lines from that declaration which I think should be our rallying cry here this evening.  It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honors that we are fighting, but for freedom, for that alone which no honest man gives up but with life itself.  [applause] So let me finish, ladies and gentlemen, by saying, freedom for Iran, freedom for Ashraf, freedom for Liberty, and victory for Madame Rajavi.  [applause]  Now let me introduce my great friend, vice president of the European Parliament, Alejo Vidal-Quadras.  [applause]

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