European Parliament Members Support
Call To Defend Rights of Professor Sison

By the Committee to Defend Filipino Progressives Abroad (DEFEND)

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(Utrecht, The Netherlands) – Members of the European Parliament from Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden have expressed concern and support to the call to defend the democratic and civil rights of Filipino political exile Prof. Jose Maria Sison.

They also asked the government of the Netherlands to withdraw the names of the CPP and NPA from its list of terrorist organizations, and expressed support for the resumption of the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

In a letter they signed addressed to Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, the Europarliamentarians said the CPP and NPA are major organizations in the NDFP engaged in peace negotiations with the GRP, and that Professor Sison is the Chief Political Consultant of the NDFP in the negotiations.

They said listing the CPP/NPA and Professor Sison as “terrorists” jeopardizes the peace negotiations.

They also expressed deep concern for the deprivation of housing, medical insurance, food allowance and other basic necessities for the Sison family, and the freezing of his bank account.

“We request you to withdraw your government’s listing of the CPP/NPA and Professor Jose Maria Sison as terrorists and to support the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, which your government has hosted in the past,” the letter of the Europarliamentarians said.

“We make this request in accordance with European Parliament Resolutions in 1997 and 1999, which have strongly supported and endorsed the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines,” they emphasized.

The twenty-two Europarliamentarians who signed the letter include: P. Frahm (Denmark); Y. Boudjenah, S. Ainardi, F. Sylla, A. Krivine (France); H. Markov, F. Uca, C. Fiebiger (Germany); E. Korakas, K. Alyssandrakis, D. Koulourianos (Greece); L. Vinci, L. Manisco (Italy); E. Meijer (Netherlands); J. Miranda, I. Figueiredo (Portugal); P. Marset, S. Jove, A. Puerta, L. Gonzalez (Spain); and J. Sjostedt, H. Schmid (Sweden).

The Committee DEFEND that oversees the campaign to defend the democratic rights of Prof. Sison said it expects more Europarliamentarians to sign the letter. 

Committee DEFEND

Postbus 15687, 1001 ND Amsterdam

Tel: (+31) 030-2368722, Fax: (+31) 030-2322989

Email: defenddemrights@yahoo.com 

 September 21, 2002  Bulatlat.com

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