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I wrote several letters to Finnish politicians and public officials urging them not to have any contact with the Iranian terrorist leader Maryam Rajavi and her representatives. Below is my letter to former Conservative MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi, who has a long-standing relationship to Ms Rajavi's organisation. Ms Kauppi is now Managing Director of the Federation of Finnish Financial Services.

Dear Piia-Noora Kauppi,

I am writing to you to express my deepest concern about the recent visit to Finland of Maryam Rajavi, one of the leaders of the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI). I have learned that you have cooperated with organisations that Ms Rajavi represents for some time. I wish you would hold human rights foremost in your mind when considering your attitude toward organisations that use or have used terrorism to further their political aims.

Maryam Rajavi, who was on a visit to Finland, is the leader figure of the PMOI, which is led by her husband, Massoud Rajavi. Through its extensive lobbying, the organisation has gained the support of many politicians especially in Europe. The PMOI has ample financial resources, which it uses to spread its propaganda. After a lengthy legal battle, the EU removed the PMOI from its official list of terrorist organisations in January 2009. The United States and Canada have not followed suit.

Many former members of the PMOI have told that the organisation is led like a religious cult. The members pledge absolute loyalty to the organisation's leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. The PMOI seeks new recruits among Iranian refugees in different countries, many of whom live in precarious conditions. Apparently, there are several Rajavi supporters among Iranian refugees residing in Finland as well.

The PMOI made several terrorist attacks in Iran in the 1980s and 1990s. Iran's islamist regime executed thousands of the organisation's adherents. In 1986, the PMOI allied itself with the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who was at the time waging a bloody war against Iran. The war cost the lives of an estimated one million Iranians. After the First Gulf War, the PMOI took part in crushing the revolt in Iraqi Kurdistan. The wave of terror claimed the lives of an estimated 200,000 civilians, many of whom were women and children.

After the US invaded Iraq, the PMOI handed over its weapons to coalition forces. The US decided to protect the PMOI's base, Camp Ashraf, from Iraqi attacks. The camp is now being guarded by US soldiers. There is speculation that the US is holding on to the PMOI as a "reserve" in the event that the organisation could be used should Iran's current islamist regime lose its grip on power.

The PMOI claims to have abdicated violence in 2001, and has since launched an aggressive image campaign, portraying itself as a defender of the freedom of speech, democracy, and especially women's rights. The campaign has gained the support of many European politicians and opinion leaders. Europe is taking a big risk if it is prepared to take the words of an organisation guilty of obvious war crimes at face value.

Can an organisation that has committed terrorist acts against its own people and people in a foreign country be regarded as a trustworthy partner in discussions about the state of democracy and human rights in Iran? No court can provide guarantees that the PMOI will not resort to violence ever again. Would it not be wiser, in the least, to employ the precautionary principle and abstain from cooperation with an organisation, the leaders of which have yet to be tried for their crimes?

Regardless of the justification of politicians and public figures in Finland for their meetings with representatives of the PMOI and its sister organisations, the movement's propaganda portrays those meetings as a show of support to its leaders. I wish you would seriously consider what signal you are sending to Iran when you are engaging in cooperation with the PMOI. This is the reason why many MPs in Finland have refused to meet Maryam Rajavi and her representatives.

If our elected representatives and opinion leaders lend their support to organisations like the PMOI, I shudder to think what sort of forces our country will support in the future. Maryam Rajavi and her husband Massoud Rajavi should languish in jail rather than strut about in the Finnish house of parliament, ministry cabinets, and church ailes. I implore you to sever all your ties to Maryam Rajavi and the organisations that she represents.

Yours sincerely,

Kerkko Paananen