Filipino Sison on EU-list of terrorists

October 19, 2002

Translation from the Belgian newspaper "De Financieel-Ekonomische Tijd", page 34, Oct.19,2002

This month, the EU will still adjust the list of terrorists whose assets have to be frozen. That can be heard in diplomatic circles in Brussels. But it considers only small adjustments.

Two ETA-members will be removed from the list, because they are already jailed. The redaction was informed about this. And a new person will be added: the Filipino founder of the Communist Party, Sison, who still resides in the Netherlands.

The EU does not automatically follow the US lists. Under Spanish presidency during the first six months this year, the list was twice changed. With the last change, Kurdish and Turkish leftist parties and liberation parties were added.

There was a lot to do about Sison the last years in the Netherlands. The military arm of his party, the New People's Army, was involved in a big number of violent actions in the Philippines. Sison received in 1993 the status of political refugee in the Netherlands. He also received an allowance.

The US have already put the party of Sison on their list of terrorists. Several EU-countires, under which Great-Britain and the Netherlands, have followed the US and have already been calling to freeze the (limited) resources of Sison. Including him in the EU-list means the freezing of his assets and judicial cooperation between the member states.

KV

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