British Iranians Picket the Lib Dem HQ

Potkin Azarmeher 

2005/11/23

British Iranians staged a silent picket outside the Lib Dem HQ, in Cawley Street, Millbank. The picket was in protest at remarks made by Lib Dem Baroness, Emma Nicholson, in the European Parliament, who referred to the Islamic Republic as "an advanced form of democracy in the region".

The protesters, mostly professional, took time off work and braved the cold London weather, and stood outside the Lib Dem HQ, handing out leaflets - see below - to passers by and Lib Dem members who were visiting the party HQ.

After about one hour, a Lib Dem official first protested to the police that the protesters are using a residential property to display their posters, but the police reassured the official that the owner has given her consent after speaking to the protesters.

Soon after, the Lib Dem chief executive, Lord Chris Rennard, stepped out of the HQ to speak to the demonstrators. The demonstrators explained that Baroness Nicholson's constant support for the Islamic Republic is providing the mullahs with a lot of undue credit and propaganda. Lord Rennard was told any comparison of the Islamic Republic with other countries in the region is an absurd comparison. The Iranian people have struggled for the last 100 years for freedom of speech and an accountable government. The analogy would be to tell a Chinese dissident that the Chines government is not as bad as North Korea or the Pol Pot regime! "No comparison with other countries in the region is relevant" Lord Rennard was told.

Lord Rennard was also reminded about another Lib Dem peer who had said "Human Rights in Iran should not be compared with Western Human Rights standards but with that of the region. "There should be no classifcation of Human Rights", the demonstrators told Lord Rennard. "Human Rights is universal and it should not be classified by race or region".

Lord Rennard agreed and then asked what the protesters' demands were.
"We need a clear statement from the Lib Dem party on what their policy towards the Islamic Republic is. Do they support Emma Nicholson or do they distance themselves from her? If we do not have a satisfactory answer we will continue to campaign amongst British Iranians not to vote for Lib Dems and will stage hunger strikes outside the Party HQ" The demonstrators told Lord Rennard.

Lord Rennard promised to contact Sir Menzies Campbell, the Lib Dem Shadow Foreign Secretary and try to get a clarification on the party's policy on the Islamic Republic.

The protesters then thanked Lord Rennard and said they will await the reply by Sir Menzies Campbell. Lord Rennard however refused to give a statement to the journalists covering the event.

The leaflet handed out today:

Freedom Loving People of Britain! In a recent debate in the European Parliament, the Lib Dem Baroness, Emma Nicholson was the only MEP who praised the medieval theocratic state of the Islamic Republic of Iran, calling it “a more advanced form of democracy in the region”.

Islamic Republic is in fact a brutal, backward, religious dictatorship. Only Shiite Muslims can stand as candidates in the so-called "elections", but not all the Shiites; only the ones who accept the state interpretation of Shiite Islam, even then they are still vetted by the unelected Guardian Council before the elections and after the elections, yet despite all this the state used all its apparatus to cheat in the last presidential “elections” too.

We wrote to all Lib Dem MPs, MEPs and Lords to clarify their position on the Islamic Republic and on Baroness Nicholson’s continuous support for the mullahs. Only Lord Lester distanced himself from Baroness Nicholson. The leader of the Lib Dem MEPs, Chris Davies also replied to us but backed his colleague, Baroness Nicholson. Interestingly he also got Iran and Iraq mixed up in his reply!

By supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Lib Dems are supporting:

1) AN EVIL THEOCRATIC DICTATORSHIP

2) A REGIME WHICH STONES WOMEN TO DEATH

3) A REGIME WHICH HOLDS PUBLIC EXECUTIONS

4) A REGIME WHICH EXECUTES UNDERAGE MINORS

5) A REGIME WHICH SPONSORS INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

6) A REGIME WHICH PROVIDES TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING TO KILL BRITISH SOLDIERS

7) A REGIME WHICH PUBLICLY ANNOUNCES WIPING ANOTHER COUNTRY OFF THE MAP

8) A REGIME IN WHICH WOMEN ARE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS

9) A REGIME WHICH KILLS AND IMPRISONS JOURNALISTS

10) A REGIME WHICH DOES NOT RECOGNISE FREEDOM OF RELIGION

We believe that none of the above are neither Liberal nor Democratic values and at a time when the Iranian president calls for another country to be wiped off the map, and the Islamic Republic technology explosives is killing British soldiers in Iraq, the Lib Dem leadership by not publicly distancing itself from Baroness Nicholson has shown gross incompetence and misjudgement.

Would you trust such a party to be in charge of international affairs?