Amir Vafa Yaghmaei
Missions of Nejat Society

Some points on Children of Camp Ashaf by Amir Yaghmai

Amir Yaghmai, former child soldier of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) explains some points about “Children of Camp Ashraf”.
Children of Cam Ashraf is a documentary directed by the Iranian journalist and film maker Sara Moien. The film is based on the life story of four of near a thousand children of MEK members who were separated from their parents in 1991 and were smuggled to Europe and North America.

The children were left in foster families who were MEK sympathizers, in most cases not with normal qualifications of a safe family. Amir Yaghmai, Parvin Hosseinnia, Atefeh Sebdani and Hanif Bali are the four Swedish citizens whose traumatic childhood involved with the MEK cult is narrated in the documentary.
Amir usually gives updates about the process of broadcasting the film on his accounts on social networks. These are some points that he explained to the Swedish viewers of the film on his Facebook account on July 14th, 2024:

Hello dear friends,
Hope all is well with you. I know that many of you have seen our documentary film “the children from camp Ashraf” which is directed by Sara Moein and produced by Linda Mutawi from Atmo Stockholm in collaboration with SVT. For those of you who haven’t seen it, I recommend that you go and see it through the link below.
A few points I want to highlight about the film:

1- it has taken about 6 years to produce this documentary with countless hours that are not included in the film itself. Making such a documentary film is extremely difficult considering the complex background of the Mojahedin and considering that 4 participants must each tell parts of their personal story. With the feedback I received, I know that the entirety of our story came across in the film.

2- the questions that remain are many. I look forward to being able to clarify in a suitable platform the parts that have not had time to be elucidated or the parts that need a better explanation. I see the questions more as an opportunity to open up for discussion and also debate questions about our history and the film. I don’t mind debating with supporters or members of this organization but I know from experience that they shy away from debating with critics and all they do is label and smear their critics. Which we were all prepared for from the start.

3- my personal goal and involvement in the film has been to contribute knowledge to a younger generation that can fall into the trap that I personally fell into. It can be an emotional period as a teenager where many evil and destructive forces want to pull one and exploit one’s vulnerability. With experiences from those who have ended up there, this can be reduced or at least make them think twice. Simply making the world a better place and helping young people in vulnerable situations.

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MEK terror activities
Iran

From Street Crimes to Terror in the Skies

Every other Tuesday since last December has marked a significant event for the Iranian people: the court sessions addressing the charges against 104 members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization, commonly known as the MEK, as well as the legal status of this organization.

Tuesday, July 9, 2024, saw the fifteenth session of this court. Although the primary aim of these proceedings is to address the charges against over 100 MEK members and the organization’s status as a terrorist entity, each session has become a deep dive into the pages of its violent history.

In the first two rows of red seats on the right side of the hall, new faces could be seen, unmistakably indicating that they, too, were families, survivors, or disabled victims of terrorism.

As Judge Dehghani declared the official commencement of the 15th session, the hall continued to fill with people.

Judge’s Remarks on Anti-Terrorism Conventions

The session began with a recitation of the Quran, followed by Judge Dehghani’s formal opening. He spoke for about an hour on various topics, emphasizing the absence of a permanent international criminal court with the jurisdiction to handle terrorist incidents, and stating that such cases fall under the purview of national governments.

He highlighted the existence of anti-terrorism conventions and the obligation of signatory countries to adhere to their provisions. Judge Dehqani Nia stated, “Since the commencement of this court, no member country of the anti-terrorism convention has the right to harbor terrorists; they must either prosecute the accused themselves or extradite them to Iran for trial.”

Judge Dehqani Nia referenced 13 global conventions and 3 regional ones, highlighting the international community’s efforts to combat the global threat of terrorism. He stressed the importance of host countries and MEK supporters adhering to their obligations under these conventions, urging them to pave the way for the prosecution of these terrorists. He called upon the prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take the necessary steps for the extradition of these criminals back to Iran.

trial of MEK members

trial of MEK members

Crimes from Ground to Sky

Terrorists recognize no boundaries in their actions, and the MEK’s crimes are a testament to this harsh reality. Their range of terrorist activities is extensive, impacting every segment of society and age group. The MEK’s attacks have targeted schools, universities, markets, and residential complexes, turning religious and political events into bloodbaths. Their atrocities extend from the ground to the skies.

During the fifteenth session of the court, Judge Dehqani Nia highlighted the MEK’s hijackings as part of their extensive list of crimes. The MEK’s embrace of terrorism is so profound that they seize every opportunity to commit acts of terror. As Moradi, the plaintiffs’ attorney, noted in his defense, the MEK disrupted Iranians abroad who intended to participate in elections by organizing gatherings to create obstacles.

Moradi also represented the plaintiffs in filing complaints against those Iranians abroad who, knowingly or unknowingly, supported the MEK by being present at locations associated with the Islamic Republic. He requested the court to address these complaints according to the law. The judge confirmed that the court would handle these complaints upon their receipt.

Monitors Narrating the Crimes

The latest court session focused on the oral testimonies regarding the MEK’s brutal attack on the office of the Islamic Republic Party. In previous sessions, the courtroom monitors have served as a stark window into the worst aspects of the MEK’s crimes, violence, and inhumane actions, providing a precise view of the related evidence. The brutality of some videos was so intense that viewers were forewarned before their display.

Request for Seizure of MEK Assets in Iran

At the fifteenth session, Moradi, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, called for the identification and seizure of MEK assets within Iran. Initially, the judge agreed to the criminal provision request in line with the criminal procedure code to secure the plaintiffs’ financial claims. However, following an objection from one of the defense attorneys regarding insufficient evidence for asset seizure, the judge stated that the court would make a decision after further review.

Recognizing Everyone’s Rights

The trial of the MEK’s crimes once again underscored that in Iran’s judicial system, the right to a fair trial is non-negotiable. This right extends even to members of a group responsible for the bloodshed of thousands of Iranians. This was evident during the fifteenth session through the defense attorneys’ objections to the statements made by experts and other lawyers.

Hostility Towards the Society

The MEK’s terrorist act of bombing the office of the Islamic Republic Party was the focal point of the fifteenth session. Mohammad Taghi Zardoust, an eyewitness, took the stand to recount his experience of the incident. He discussed the identity of the perpetrator responsible for the explosion and the investigations that connected him to the MEK. The attack on the office of the Islamic Republic Party highlights their undeniable enmity towards all people. Subsequently, the children of the martyrs of the office bombing provided their accounts of the crime.

Unraveling the Mystery of the Office Bombing

The puzzle of the office bombing’s perpetrator was pieced together with testimonies from other witnesses and the plaintiffs’ lawyer. Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi, who orchestrated the bombing, fled to Iraq after the attack and began working at Radio Mojahed. Masoud Rajavi, the then-leader of the MEK, introduced Kolahi to the group members as Engineer Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi.

Kolahi later went into hiding for a period, but his criminal activities did not cease after fleeing to another country, indicating that the bombing in Iran was not the end of his story. In the early 1980s, under an assumed name, he obtained asylum in the Netherlands. Kolahi’s efforts to remain hidden were so meticulous that even his wife was unaware of his true identity for many years. Dutch media reported that in December 2015, Kolahi was targeted and killed in Almere. According to reports, Kolahi, who had turned to drug and arms trafficking in the Netherlands, became the head of one of the largest drug cartels in the country. Ultimately, a dispute with his partners led to his demise.

No Safe Haven for Terrorists

The judge’s declaration, “There should be no safe haven for terrorists,” reflects the impassioned pleas of families, survivors, and disabled victims of terrorism. This sentiment lies at the heart of their appeal. Mohammad Javad Eslami, son of martyr Eslami from the Islamic Republic Party, articulated that his demands from the court exceed conventional expectations and echo the judge’s stance. He stressed the imperative for prosecuting the MEK’s international supporters to eradicate any safe haven facilitating their malevolent endeavors.

Conclusion of 15th Session: Former MEK Member Testimony

The fifteenth court session concluded with testimony from Ebrahim Khodabandeh, a former head of the MEK’s International Relations Department who had defected from the organization. During his testimony, Khodabandeh exposed the MEK’s contradictory and unclear positions. Initially, he recalled how the organization prominently featured “Death to America” slogans in its publications and espoused anti-imperialist rhetoric in the charter of the “National Council of Resistance.” However, just a year later, in 1983, they removed the “Death to America” slogan and revised their charter. Masoud Rajavi and other members convened meetings where they declared that their main adversary was the Shah, who was backed by the U.S. Given that the Islamic Republic, one of the few independent nations globally, was in direct opposition to the U.S., they concluded there was no longer a reason to oppose America and instead considered themselves aligned.

Khodabandeh’s testimony marked the conclusion of the fifteenth court session. The next session, scheduled for two weeks later on a Tuesday, will delve into another chapter of the MEK’s terrorist activities.

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May Day, Child Labor in the MEK
Missions of Nejat Society

What vacation meant as a child of Mujahed

Atefeh Sebdani, a child of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, Cult of Rajavi) wrote about the traumatic memoirs of the so-called trips in her childhood in a foster family.
Atefeh and her siblings together with hundreds of MEK children had been separated from their Mujahed parents in Iraq and had been smuggled to Sweden. The MEK agents had delivered five of them, Atefeh, her two biological brothers and two other children, to a couple who were sympathizers of the group and they themselves had one child.
Right now, Atefeh Sebdani is on vacation with her family in Greece. From there, she has published two posts on her Facebook account and explained what “vacation” meant in her childhood in a foster family who received Swedish social funds for five foster children!
Atefeh and her siblings were left home alone by their foster parents but sometimes they were taken to trips by the MEK or as Atefeh says by “the cult”. However, the trips were not like vacations. They were taken by bus to any location that the MEK was supposed to hold a rally. The children were expected to make the rally look crowded. They had to beat on drums, wave flags and chant slogans of the Cult of Rajavi. Atefeh has previously written about those exhausting missions for MEK Children in European cities 15498.
Now, read her new posts on her Facebook account from Greece:

MEK Children left home alone by their foster parents

July 18th, 2024 :
When I was a child, my siblings and I had to stay at home while our foster parents and their biological son went away on vacations.
It was the Dominican Republic, the USA, London, Rome, Mallorca…
I often thought that at some point someone should see this. Especially since my foster parents not too rarely went with others or visited others. That we were never allowed to come along. That we were left alone at home. Sometimes for two weeks.
When someone asked why we weren’t there, they said we didn’t want to. And they were satisfied with that answer.
That five children did not want to go with them for a week to Mallis to sunbathe and swim. Rather be left alone in a rainy Sweden. Cook for themselves when the leftovers and snacks in the pantry run out. Fall asleep by themselves in the large villa. Keep an eye on each other in case something happens. In a time without mobile phones and no contact with our guardians.
When our foster parents then came home, they handed out the souvenirs they had mercifully bought for us.
– Thank you, thank you, what a nice necklace, we said gratefully.
While they were telling the stories from their trip, about the old man in a square who made that particular necklace by hand. It was a fun experience for them to see his work, we understood. Like everything else they experienced that they remembered so well and laughed about sometimes.
If we were lucky, we got to see some photos too. But only if we were lucky.

MEK demonstrations filled out by Children

July 19th, 2024:
You were shocked by what I wrote about my foster parents in the previous post.
Although sometimes we got to go on trips too.
It was the trips we were put on a bus to various European locations. There were cities that many in the People’s Mujahedin sect did not find so exciting to go to for demonstrations. But even these demonstrations needed to be filled out. Then it was perfect to bring us along.
We usually went so we would prefer not to sleep over somewhere. If it was night, we could take a nap on the bus. On some occasions it became difficult to get the logistics for the bus driver and then we were checked into a Formula 1 hotel. Entire families in one room with only a double bed was nothing strange. Lying down and sleeping on a floor wasn’t either. We solved most of it. Our purpose, the fight in the name of the sect, was the most important. And we foster children, who were never otherwise allowed to go anywhere, were happy to be included.
When the demonstration was over, they collected us at the buses to go back home. What we had seen from our stay was a square engulfed in the cult’s flags and effigies of the leaders.
We came home and talked about our trips abroad. Many were the cities we had to cut down.
The foster parents are satisfied. Because of course we had to travel with us.

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Bob Menendez
Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Bob Menendez, MEK paid advocate found guilty of corruption

The American senator Bob Menendez, the ardent supporter of the formerly designated terrorist organization Mujahedin-e Khalq, was found guilty of bribery and corruption.

Top United States Senator Bob Menendez has been found guilty of all 16 criminal counts he faced in a widely watched corruption trial in New York, including bribery and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

A Manhattan federal court jury delivered its verdict on Tuesday after deliberating for more than 12 hours over three days, reported Aljazeera.

Prosecutors had accused Menendez, a New Jersey lawmaker and an influential figure in the Democratic Party, of taking part in overlapping bribery schemes in which he and his wife accepted bribes from three businessmen who wanted Menendez’s help.

According to the reports, in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, and car and mortgage payments, Menendez helped steer billions of dollars in US aid to Egypt, where one of the businessmen, Wael Hana, had ties to government officials, according to prosecutors.

Menendez also was accused of seeking to influence criminal probes involving two other businessmen, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe.

In March 2024, 15444 Eli Clifton of The Intercept reported that the smaller contributions to Menendez Legal Defense Fund, might appear to come from a smattering of individual donors. An analysis of the donor rolls by Responsible Statecraft and The Intercept, however, shows that about 15 percent of the people who gave to Menendez — including Moeinimanesh and Afshari — are linked to an Iranian exile group called the Mojahedin e-Khalq, or MEK.

Menendez and the MEK have a relationship going back a decade. Shortly after the group was removed from a State Department list of “foreign terror organizations,” Menendez advocated for the MEK following an attack on its members by the Iraqi government.

Menendez’s elevation of the group as a viable alternative to the Islamic Republic continued since then. The senator met with its leader, Maryam Rajavi, last May and heaped praise on the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a so-called political wing indistinguishable from the MEK, at a 2022 Capitol Hill event organized by the Organization of Iranian American Communities, a group allied with the MEK.

The intercept found out that in total, MEK-affiliated individuals made up approximately 5 percent of the total funds raised, over $20,000, by the end of January. (Seven other donors, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the OIAC, and Menendez’s office did not respond to requests of the Intercept for comment.)

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Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), a Swedish daily newspaper on Documentary children of Camp Ashraf
The cult of Rajavi

Swedish newspaper: Children of Camp Ashraf, a must watch

Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), a Swedish daily newspaper described the documentary “Children of Camp Ashraf” as a must watch that no body should miss.

“The Children of Camp Ashraf, a must watch, nobody Should miss this summer’s most powerful documentary”, writes Erika Hallhagen, the journalist of SvD of the Swedish daily newspaper.

Erika Hallhagen, critic and writer at SvD’s cultural service wrote about the films she recommends the readers to watch in the summer idyll. Sara Moien’s documentary, Children of Camp Ashraf was highly recommended by the Swedish journalist. “It bears repeating – the worst affected by war and military escalation are the children,” she wrote.

Sara Moien’s documentary was first played in two Swedish Film Festivals, Goteborg and Tempo, this year. It was also aired by the Swedish national TV channel, SVT. The film is now available on SVT Play.
“No one should miss the SVT Play film,” Erika Hallhagen stated.

Svenska Dagbladet is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and is published throughout the country. Its circulation is the third highest among quality newspapers after Dagens Nyheter and Göteborgs-Posten. The newspaper describes itself as independent and liberal-conservative.

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Nejat Society Albania’s Action in Support of Families of MEK Members in Iran
Former members of the MEK

Nejat Society Albania’s Action in Support of Families of MEK Members in Iran

On Friday, July 19, 2024, the Nejat Society Albania took an action in support of the families of members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), who want to contact their loved ones after decades.

In this campaign that was held in the National Park of Tirana, a number of Iranian and Albanian members of Nejat Society Albania distributed explanatory flyers among the passers-by. They were welcomed by the people in the national park.

This action was carried out in support of the families of Nejat Society in Iran and in order to expose the violation of the most basic human rights in the MEK’s camp in Manez, Durres province, North of Tirana.

While taking the papers, the people asked for more explanations about the MEK and their presence in Albania, their internal relations and the inhuman treatment they have against their own members and their families. In response, the members of Nejat Society Albania provided them with detailed information.

Those who read the flyers and heard the explanations, expressed their sympathy for the families and expressed regret for the suffering they have endured during these years.
All the people emphasized on the demand that the Albanian government should intervene in this matter and put an end to the miserable conditions and to aid the people inside the closed and remote Manez camp so that they can choose for their own fate.

The video and full report of the action will be broadcast soon by Nejat Society Albania.

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Aldo Solullari
The cult of Rajavi

Virtual conference of Nejat Society Albania on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day

Aldo Solullari, Media manager of Nejat Society Albania heldo a virtual conference on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day. World Youth Skills Day, observed annually on July 15th, recognizes the potential of young people as catalysts for change and contributors to a prosperous and sustainable future for all.
The media manager of Nejat society dedicated the conference to members who lost their youth in the Mojahedin-e Khalq organization (MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi).
Sollulari said:

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
According to the United Nations, the theme for World Youth Skills Day 2024, “Youth Skills for Peace and Development,” underscores the crucial role young people play in peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

The world today is facing many challenges, many of which affect young people. Violent conflicts disrupt education and stability and reinforce a negatively polarized online environment, and persistent economic inequality limits opportunity.
In this regard, Nejat Society Albania takes into account the obstacle and gap that the MEK has created against the integration and highlighting of the complex professional and academic skills of its members.

The MEK has violated many human rights laws, including the involvement of many minors in the struggle while they had no political information and were deceived into fighting for the benefit of the organization’s leadership. They were physically taken hostage at the age of 16, and some today have a biological age of nearly 60, but without social integration, as a person with human rights to integrate professional skills, the right to employment, the right to have family, the right to inherit and also the lack of communication with their families in the modern age. This makes their stay in that camp in Manz exhausting.

Today, in this virtual conference, we will introduce you to the obstacles to the integration of Mujahedin who had the right to enjoy their youth and participate in all civil issues as worthy citizens. Today, on this important day, their mothers mourn to see and hear the voices of their children who were locked in a dark cave as an investigational cage.
On World Youth Skills Day, let’s recognize the potential of young people as agents of peace and integration.

Parents should beware of a threat similar to Mujahedin-e Khalq.

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MEK court in Tehran
Iran

No member state of anti-terrorism conventions has the right to host the MEK

Judge Dehghani asked the signatory countries of universal anti-terrorism conventions to punish the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) for its crimes or return them to Iran.

The fifteenth session of the court hearing for the trial of the MEK was held on July 9th,2024. In this meeting, Judge Dehghani emphasized that there is no permanent international criminal court with the jurisdiction to deal with cases of terrorist incidents, and said that dealing with cases related to terrorist incidents is the responsibility of the governments.

He further reminded the audience of the existence of anti-terrorism conventions and the need for the signatory countries to commit to its provisions and said: Since the beginning of this court, no member country of the anti-terrorism conventions has had the right to host terrorists. They should either prosecute the accused themselves or return them to Iran.

Judge Dehghani also mentioned 13 international conventions and three regional conventions as a result of the international community’s efforts to deal with the issue of global terrorism, and emphasized the need for various host and supporting countries of the MEK to pay attention to their obligations within the framework of the signed conventions. He asked for punishment of these terrorists.

Judge Dehghani asked the prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take the necessary measures to return the MEK criminals to the country.

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Ebrahim Khodabandeh
Missions of Nejat Society

Ebrahim Khodabandeh, Nejat Society CEO in the MEK’s 15th trial court

Ebrahim Khodabandeh, Nejat Society CEO attended the MEK’s 15th trial court in Tehran.
The 15th session of the trial court of 104 Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) members and the group as a legal entity was held on July 9th, 2024. Ebrahim Khodabandeh who is a former responsible with the MEK’s international relations showed up as an informed source in the court.

Ebrahim Khodabande stated in the court: “I accomplished diplomatic missions for the organization in more than 20 countries. We used to hold meetings with Masoud Rajavi in Iraq and Paris. When the explosion of the building of the Islamic Republic Party took place, the organization did claim the responsibility for the bombing. Later, we realized that the reason was not international considerations, but the organization’s internal environment.”

He continued: The organization did not announce who did the attack, even the members of the organization were confused. A year later, in 1961, Massoud Rajavi held a meeting in Paris, where a number of members and supporters of the organization were present, and in that meeting, he clearly announced, ‘we collapsed the ceiling on Beheshti and the members of the Islamic Republic Party, and in this way, we ruined the regime’s future’. Rajavi used to say that Imam Khomeini is the present of the Islamic Republic, but Shahid Beheshti is the future of the Islamic Republic, and in thus he supposed that he had ruined the future of the regime.”

The former agent of MEK international relations stated: “The MEK published the slogan “Death to America” in its publications. The constitution of the MEK’s National Council of Resistance, was first based on fighting against imperialism and helping anti-imperialist movements. One year later, in 1982 the slogan of death to America was removed and the statutes of the National Council of Resistance were changed. Masoud Rajavi held meetings with other members of the group and announced, ‘The reason was that we were confronting America and the enemy We were, because our main conflict was with the Shah and America supported the Shah, and now that the Islamic Republic is one of the few independent countries in the world and has been in complete conflict with America, so we have no reason to be enemies with America and confront it. We are aligned.’”

Nejat Society CEO told the court: “In October 1997, the US State Department listed the MEK as foreign terrorist organization. At that time in Baghdad, Masoud Rajavi held a meeting in Camp Ashraf and said ‘when we did the bombing of June 27th, America did not list us as terrorist, but now that we have not taken up arms for 10 years, it has done so’.”

Ebrahim Khodabandeh further said: “Massoud Rajavi announced in one of the meetings, ‘After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, everyone sought to form a party, but we sought to collect weapons and our infiltrators were everywhere and we influenced wherever we could. Like the impact on Bani Sadr and wherever we could not, we removed people; Like the bombing of June 27th, the explosion of the Islamic Republic Party building.”

He stated: “Kolahi Samadi [the MEK agent who detonated the bomb in the office of Islamic Republic party] came to Iraq after the explosion of the Islamic Republic Party and Masoud Rajavi introduced him to everyone, but after a while there was no news of him and we did not find out where Kolahi went.”

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Bijar Rahimi
Missions of Nejat Society

The story of Bijar Rahimi

For Bijar Rahimi, 21 years of captivity in a destructive cult means losing the best time of his life. His youth was lost like many other youths who fell into the trap of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). He was recruited by fraudulent tactics of the MEK while he was seeking a good job, with the dream of a better life and prosperity. He spent 21 years of his life behind the mental and physical bars of the Cult of Rajavi.

Bijar Rahimi was recruited by the MEK shortly before the coalition forces’ invasion to Iraq. In a letter he wrote to the International Red Cross after leaving the MEK, he described his past as follows: “I left Iran 22 years ago with the promise and deception of the MEK to go to Europe to find a better job and improve life through Pakistan border but I was taken to Camp Ashraf in Diyala province, Iraq. I joined the organization one month before the invasion by the coalition forces in 2003. After the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the disarmament of the MEK by the United States, I was told that it was not possible to go to Europe. Then I and many other people who came with the same promise were faced with this trick that if we returned to Iran, we would be imprisoned, tortured and executed. Under the pressure of meetings and brainwashing techniques, despite our inner desire, we were forced to stay in the organization.”

Both Bijar and his brother Sarfaraz were caught in the trick of MEK recruiters. Sarfaraz managed to leave the group after the relocation of the group in Albania, but Bijar remained under the mental pressure of the destructive Cult of Rajavi. “The leaders of the Cult of Rajavi deceived me and forced me to stay in the organization by brainwashing and taking an oath, and they wasted 21 years of my life without any salary or savings, without the right to call and communicate with my family, without having a family, and with illness and mental and physical problems.”

Even since he was in Iraq, Bijar wanted to leave the MEK. In his testimonies, he states that in 2016, when he was living in Camp Liberty in Iraq, his asylum case was successfully submitted by Norway through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. But the officials of the MEK dissuaded him from becoming a refugee to Norway and forced him to stay in the organization.

Leaving the MEK thanks to the power of the media

While Bijar was trapped in the MEK’s camp in Manz village in the north of Tirana, his brother, Sarfraz Rahimi, married an Albanian girl named Erisa Edrisi and had a family. Unlike many members of the MEK, whose families are trying to visit them from Iran, Sarfaraz lived a few kilometers away from Bijar in the city of Tirana. His efforts to meet Bijar had been faced with obstacles from the leaders of the MEK. He and his wife wanted their son Ermolindo to meet his uncle Bijar, and this double motivation led them to cooperate with Nejat Society in Iran and to establish Nejat Society Albania.

Since the early days of her marriage with Sarfaraz, Erisa Rahimi was in contact with members of the MEK who were friends of her husband. She, who is the head of Nejat society Albania today, said in his recent interview with News 24 of Albania about her motivation to cooperate with Nejat Society: “Because I was a Persian translator for Iranians, I got to know their pain and suffering inside the MEK so I made a promise to myself, to help them. As a translator, I was with them to go to the doctor and get a residence permit and rent a house, etc. I was very happy when Nejat Society Albania was formed with the help of the Nejat Society Iran because I could better support people in the society. The important task of our association is to help families inside Iran to free their children from the captivity of the MEK.”

The humanitarian and cultural activities of Nejat Society Albania to support MEK defectors, helping to integrate them into the Albanian society and enlightening about the nature of the Cult of Rajavi and its threats to the Albanian society, made Erisa and Sarfraz as activists of the society, to be noticed by the Albanian media. The result of several media appearances of the brother and his wife in the Albanian media was that Bijar became aware of his brother’s health and freedom, despite the lies that his commanders had told him.
In an interview with Bijar, Sarfaraz and Erisa by Euronews Albania, in March 2024, Bijar described the story of his escape from the MEK as follows: “I am fortunate that with the help of Euronews after the attack of the Albanian police on Ashraf 3, I saw Sarfraz and in this way, I got hope and was able to escape. I am very happy now that in addition to being here in Albania, I can contact my other family members in Iran whenever I want, as well as my friends in Europe and anywhere in the world.”

Bijar’s story motivates both media activists and Nejat Society

Aldo Sollulari, a journalist who became acquainted with the Nejat Society Albania and its activities through his career, is today the media manager of the Society and works there along with several other Albanian citizens. In a recent interview with the Albanian News 24, when his couleague asked about the most impressive story of MEK defectors in Albania, he mentioned the story of Bijar and Sarfraz Rahimi. After the Albanian police entered Camp Ashraf 3, Bijar saw the interview that Aldo Solulari had conducted with Sarfaraz and Erisa on News 24. The Interview made Bijar realize that the MEK’s propaganda about his brother was a lie and that his brother is outside the organization, not so far away waiting to see him.
Bijar got a visa (an exit permit by MEK commanders) to leave Camp Manz under the pretext of shopping, and soon after leaving, he submited himself to the Albanian police. He was reunited with his brother’s family with the legal protection of the Albanian police and today enjoys the individual freedoms of a free citizen.

Bijar’s story has some similarities with the stories of some other former members of the MEK. There are other people who, using the negligence of the commanders of the MEK and the opportunity to access the Internet and the media, got the spark in their minds to leave the cult. The most recent example was reported in the Le Monde newspaper’s interview with Mohammadreza Torabi, a former child soldier. In this interview, he admits that the first doubts about Massoud Rajavi’s ideology arose in his mind when he got access to the Internet in Tirana and came across an article on Nejat Society’s website, written by Alireza Mirasgari, about the deliberate murder of his father under the torture of MEK interrogators.

Humanitarian mission of Nejat Society

Thus, we see that the activities of Nejat Society, both in Iran and in Albania, can be effective in destroying the mental bars around the Cult of rajavi, in case of proper media coverage. Media reflection is not only useful in enlightening the public opinion, but it is a narrow but possible way to penetrate the minds of the members trapped behind the mental and physical bars of the cult.

Regardless of any political or religious bias, the mission of the Nejat Society is humanitarian and its goal is to facilitate the communication of families with their loved ones imprisoned in the personality cult of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi. For the activists of the Nejat Society, the release of each person from the destructive cult of Rajavi brings lots of pleasant feelings of success and happiness.

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