Top EU court keeps Hamas on terror listing
European Court of Justice overrules decision by lower court to remove Hamas from the EU's terror list, sending the case back to the lower court for reconsideration.
BRUSSELS - The European Union's top court ruled Wednesday that Islamic militant group Hamas should stay on the EU terror list, saying a lower court should not have ordered the group removed from the EU's terror list and sending the case back to the lower court for reconsideration.
The EU originally listed Hamas as a terror group in 2001, a move that froze assets of the organization in the European Union and imposed travel bans on its members. However the decision was annulled on procedural grounds by an EU court in 2014.
The EU appealed and Wednesday's ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said that the 2014 annulment was wrong and must now be reconsidered taking into account arguments not ruled upon in the original decision. However, it added that Hamas funds will continue to be frozen pending the outcome of the reconsideration.
The lower court had found that the listing was based on media and internet reports rather than decisions by a "competent authority." But the ECJ said such decisions were not required for groups to stay on the list, only for their initial listing.
"The Council may maintain a person or an entity on the list if it concludes there is an ongoing risk of that person or entity being involved in the terrorist activities that justified their initial listing," the ECJ said. The EU needed to rely on more recent material than used in its initial decision, it said.
Neither Hamas nor Israel had an immediate reaction.
In May, Hamas issued a new policy document in a bid to rebrand itself with softer positions. In the new document, Hamas said it accepts a Palestinian state alongside Israel, a departure from the founding charter which envisioned that state in place of a defeated Israel.
At the same time, Hamas also upheld its right of armed resistance against the Israeli occupation, noting that its fight is against occupation, not Jews.
The EU terrorism list, created after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and last updated in January, includes 13 individuals and 22 organizations, such as the Communist Party of the Philippines and Peru's Maoist-inspired rebel group, Shining Path.
Hamas has been listed since 2003, its military wing since 2001.
