Ingrid Betancourt, former Presidential Candidate of Columbia addressed an online global conference on the conviction of Iran’s diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi by a Belgian court for attempting to bomb the 2018 Free Iran gathering in Paris.
On February 4, 2021, simultaneous with the court ruling against the Iranian regime’s diplomat-terrorist, Assadollah Assadi, and his accomplices in Antwerp, Belgium, a global online conference was held, where Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and dozens of prominent figures from various European countries, the United States and Canada, joined thousands of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI) members based in Ashraf-3 (Albania) as well as the supporters of the Iranian Resistance worldwide.
The Belgian court rejected Assadollah Assadi’s claim of diplomatic immunity and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The three intelligence agents, Nasimeh Naami, Mehrdad Arefani, and Amir Saadouni, were sentenced to 18, 17, and 15 years in prison, respectively. Their Belgian citizenships was also revoked.
Ingrid Betancourt, former Presidential Candidate of Columbia
I salute you all, my friends, those in Iran who has suffered so much under the Iranian regime, those in the prisons of Iran that have been detained arbitrarily, all the political hostages, all the civilians, all the victims and survivors of this regime, my dear friends of the MEK, and all of you who are present in this virtual session that have been the force and the heart to fight for democracy in Iran. I salute you with deep emotion and with a heart full of hope because this is judgment day.
Today, justice has been rendered. This is a day for celebration and thanksgiving. And I want first of all to honor the Antwerp tribunal and honor its historical and courageous verdict. Asadollah Asadi and three of his accomplices have been convicted with maximum sentences of 20, 18, and 15 years in prison respectively. It is a victory. It is a victory for all the victims of terrorism in the world.
It is a victory for all of us. Because had the plug been successful, it would have led to a carnage with hundreds of casualties, murdering Maryam Rajavi, murdering many other very dear friends to us, and also killing you and me present in this virtual celebration day. It is our victory because for the first time in history, a diplomat from a terrorist state has been convicted. A state that pressured, blackmailed, and took civilian hostages, civilians with dual citizenship that were just visiting relatives in Iran. Yes, they were and still are arbitrarily imprisoned to force the Belgian courts into granting impunity to the regime’s proxies.
Therefore, this is a turning point in history because justice prevailed in spite of all Iranians regime, criminal attempts to avoid justice. This is the day the terrorist nature of the Iranian state has been exposed to the world. This condemnation puts an end to the false narrative that the Iranian regime of the Mullahs is a democracy. This judgment has shown to the world that Iran is governed and in the hands of a terrorist organization.
This trial has proved that the Paris terrorist plot was ordered by the Iranian terrorist state. It has demonstrated that those who planned to kill us were not isolated lunatics, but loyal servants of the Iranian Supreme Leader Khomeini, of the Iranian President Rouhani, and his foreign minister, Javad Zarif. They were the ones recruiting them, training them, paying them. The decision to launch this terrorist attack was taken by the Supreme National Security Council, under Rouhani’s personal watch and leadership. It was confirmed by the Supreme Leader Khamenei himself. And then, it was assigned to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security to implement the terrorist plan in close cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The sheer madness of this attempt to kill thousands of innocent people illustrates the sheer madness of a bloodthirsty regime obsessed by the fear of being overthrown by its own people. The Iranians regime’s terrorist plot was primarily targeting my dear sister, friend, Maryam Rajavi, in a desperate attempt to annihilate any democratic option for the Iranian people. What a terrible political miscalculation. But the regime took this insane risk of operating in European soil to destroy the opposition, launching this terrorist operation because it was vital for it to strike at the MEK as the existential threat to the survival of a regime shaken by years of street protests and riots.
It was not the first time the Iranian regime committed terrorist acts in European soil. They have a long history of international crimes. Regime has been engaged in terrorism for over 40 years now. But, this is the first time an Iranian diplomat has been caught red-handed. The evidence is so overwhelming that it’s not possible to disguise the truth anymore. This regime is run by a gang of dangerous terrorists coveting the nuclear bomb to export and consolidate their terrorist grid internationally.
Asadollah Asadi and three of his accomplices were charged with the counts of attempted terrorism with the intention to kill and activities within a terrorist entity. Well, that’s make it clear. This terrorist entity is no other than the Iranian government. The two-year investigation against Asadollah Asadi revealed that he was running an important network of spies and terrorists all over Europe. During his years as a diplomat in Vienna, he visited more than 300 different places where he duly posted his agents.
When he was arrested, the police found in his car receipts of monthly payments of a number of his accomplices. Millions of euros were paid to the Iranian proxies and terrorist agents and half a million only to the ones charged with bombing the NCRI annual gathering. The proof of the Iranian regime involvement in state terrorism against European citizens is now a recorded fact by a European court. Iranians regime’s terrorist nature is now an undeniable fact of history.
Therefore, this judgment calls for a severe European response. First, Europe cannot continue doing business as usual with Iran. No more accommodation. No more submitting our principles and our values to private or public economic interests. No more nuclear accord with Iran. We can’t continue kneeling to the pressure of Iran.
We need to stop them. Second, Europe has to close the Iranian terrorist centers all over Europe. This means closing Iranian embassies. We cannot make any other mistake. We have to close those embassies if we want to protect our nationals. And only under the condition of dismantling the regime’s terrorist apparatus can Europe accept to return to normal relations, if we can call “normal relations” relations with a government of criminals and terrorists.
Third, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Javad Zarif has to be held accountable for this crime. Therefore, he must know that he’s not welcome in Europe. We need our European leaders in parliaments, in office, in government to refrain from inviting him or holding talks with him. He should be in jail with Assadi, and we should have an international order to go and get him.
Fourth, the Ministry of intelligence and security has to be designated as a terrorist organization, which is what it is.
Fifth, the European leaders have to reveal, have to denounce, and have to reject the Iranian regime blackmail policy.
Sixth, we call, and I do from the bottom of my heart, all the leaders in office in Europe to support the Iranian people in their struggle to claim back their democracy. In particular, I pledge that we recognize the NCRI, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and its president-elect Maryam Rajavi as a valid democratic voice and counterpart in talks to open the path for democratic transition in Iran. Thank you all and let’s celebrate this day of truth and justice.
