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Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Hope is their only weapon against Rajavi

Ali was a 22 year-old Iranian soldier when he was taken as a hostage by Kurdish guerilla fighters in Iran-Iraq borders. He was then sold to Iraqi forces as a war prisoner. However, he was not officially a war prisoner under the regulations of the international Red Cross. So he was kept under torture and abuse by Iraqi forces in a camp in Mosul. Fed up with daily physical torture, Ali was deceived by recruiters of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MEKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi) to join the group.

This was the start of a long-life imprisonment for Mohammad Ali Sasani. He is 55 years old now. Having lost 33 years of his life inside the MEK camps, he is not allowed to leave the cult-like structure of the group yet. After years of futile effort in order to visit Ali, his parents are still looking forward to meet him some day.

Mahnaz Akafian, Ali’s mother still hopes to see her beloved son. His elderly father is still a caring father, determined to support Ali in any case.

“Where ever Ali is, I pray for him to be prosperous and healthy,”Mrs. Akafian tells Mardom TV.

“I have not seen him for 33 years. He lost his youngness in the MEK. What did Ali achieve in his life…What was the result for Massoud and Maryam Rajavi? Maybe, they think they have gained a lot but they have not gained anything. How do they think that they were able to destroy emotions in the heart of our children and their parents?”

ali sasani's family in front of Camp Liberty-iraq

Ali’s parents are one example of many families who are awaiting the release of their loved ones from the Mujahedin Khalq these days. There are a large number of MEK members’ families whose endeavors and sufferings are not taken serious by the media but their efforts are taken as the attacks of a sworn enemy by the MEK propaganda.

It seems that today the struggle for the MEK leaders is limited to fight the families of their members. Families are considered agents of the Iranian government and members have to fight them. Mr. Sasani, Ali’s father even predicts the day that Ali might show up on the MEK’s TV channel to take action against his family, insulting them and accusing them of being the Iranian agent. However, he promises his son to stay a supportive father for him and to love him forever.”If they force you to show up in TV to insult us, we will whole-heartedly receive you because at least we will see you healthy,”he says in Mardom TV.

Mrs. Akafian warns the MEK leaders about the fruitless struggle they have led against the families. She says:”I warn Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. Change your plan. You cannot cut off the children from their families. They are the beloved children of these families under any circumstance.”

Hope is the key point in the words of parents like Mr. and Mrs. Sasani. They hope that their letters and video messages will somehow reach Ali. They are actually planting the seed of hope to defeat the Rajavis’ plan for the fate of their son.

Mazda Parsi

September 26, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Rajavi is the Main Culprit for the Death of My Sister

Following the publication of the news of Shahin Qasemi’s death by the news media of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi), her brother Siavash Qasemi contacted the office of Nejat Society in Ahvaz, Khuzestan and asked to publish the message of his family’s grief for the loss of his sister:
It is necessary to make our voices heard by the public

Shahin Qasemi who died in MEK camp in Albania because of Corona

My family and I have not had any news about my sister for 40 years. During the past years, my brother died and Shahin did not call to offer condolences. At first, I was not familiar with the atmosphere ruling the MEK and I did not know that the leaders of the group do not allow the members to contact their families. Hence, I thought that my sister had lost her feelings and emotions for her family.

When I got to know about the relations inside the MEK, I found out that she was not allowed to contact the outside world. I got assured that Massoud Rajavi is the main culprit for the ruined relationship between Shahin and us. He did not even let her know about the death of our brother. My family and I consider Rajavi as the main criminal to be charged for the death of my sister.

Why didn’t Maryam Rajavi –who weeps crocodile tears for Shahin’s passing—think of us as her family during those 40 years? Why didn’t she inform Shahin of the death of her brother? Is it humanitarian that the group leaders just gave us the news of her death after 40 years of separation and unawareness of her conditions? Why didn’t they tell us that she was sick, maybe we could help her with her treatment?

Therefore, I announce that Rajavi is the main culprit for the death of my sister. I regard her death as a murder. God damn Rajavi who victimized my sister and other people like her, and broke the hearts of their families.
This is the fate of some sincere and naïve youth who were abused by the Rajavis and were finally buries under the soil with their wasted wished to see their loved ones.

Siavash Qasemi
Nejat Society Khuzestan office

September 24, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

Who Are the Offspring of the Liberation Movement of Iran?

“Mojahedin-e Khalq! You are the offspring of the Liberation Movement, you were born in 1964 while we were in prison and you went your own way, without running away from home or being expelled.”This is one of the most well-known statements of Mahdi Bazargan in May 1981 addressing Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO); a statement that was intended to pacify them.

Even though this quotation from Bazargan is generally used to pinpoint the origin of Mojahedin-e Khalq i.e., the Liberation Movement, inspection of history demonstrates that the relationship between the two groups had many ups and downs.

Who Are the Offspring of the Liberation Movement of Iran

Accordingly, in this article, we seek to examine the relationship between the MKO and the Liberation Movement before the Islamic Revolution.

The MKO was founded in September 1965 by three members of the Liberation Movement of Iran namely Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeed Mohsen and Abdolreza Nikbin.

Hanifnejad was born in 1938 in Tabriz and belonged to a middle-class family. Saeed Mohsen was born in 1318 in a religious family in Zanjan. In the Technical College from 1339 to 1342, he was active in the National Front and the Liberation Movement.

Badiezadegan was born in 1317 in Isfahan and studied chemistry at the Technical College. He was in contact with the Liberation Movement as well as the Second National Front during its activity (1).

According to the MKO members’ memoirs, at the time of their establishment, written works of the Liberation Movement members such as Bazargan, Ayatollah Taleghani and Sahabi were among the most important sources of their studies.

Hossein Ahmadi Rouhani, one of the early members of the MKO, regarding the sources that defined this group’s identity, says: “Generally, the books studied were: The Path Taken, God in Society, Love and Worship, The Issue of Revelation, Islam: the School of Fight and Generation by Bazargan; Jihad and Martyrdom, and A Shining Ray from Quran by Ayatollah Taleghani; and Creation of Man and Quran and Evolution by Dr. Yadollah Sahabi” (2).

Mohsen Nejat Hosseini also says: “Educational books in the field of ideology include Quran and Nahj al-Balaghah; A Shining Ray from Quran by Ayatollah Taleghani; Quran and Evolution by Dr. Sahabi; and God in Society, The Infinitesimals, Love and worship and Work and Islam by Bazargan” (3).

Given that the books written by the members of the Liberation Movement were among the important sources of the MKO, this question is raised as to what effect these sources had on Mojahedin’s way of thought. One of the most significant impacts of Bazargan on the founders of the MKO is his idea regarding compatibility of religion and science.

Bazargan points out in his book The Path Taken that contrary to the beliefs many people hold, either religious or non-religious, human beings from the beginning have never taken a path other than that of the prophets. He believes that the prophet’s path and the path that man is following through secularism will eventually reach the same endpoint (4).

Although Bazargan put forward this theory in response to non-religious people who did not consider religion to meet the needs of the day while emphasizing that what man learns through science does not contradict the teachings of the prophets and that eventually human scientific achievements reach a point where they realize what prophets said was accurate, the early members of the MKO made use of this theory to study non-religious texts to establish their identity and therefore began to study Marxist sources.

Posing the question ‘Why are the Marxists far ahead of Muslims in terms of fighting?’, founder of the MKO Mohammad Hanifnejad replied that science is the main reason for the progress of the fighting Marxists.

Hanifnejad believed that as westerners are superior in natural sciences, they have the upper hand in social sciences too. He used to cite a Hadith by the Prophet about the importance of seeking knowledge even from the farthest places such as China, to explain why Mojahedin should obtain the knowledge of fighting from Marxists (5).

Yadollah Sahabi, another member of the Liberation Movement, also greatly influenced the early members of the MKO by promoting an idea on the compatibility of religion and evolution. Sahabi, to reconcile Darwin’s theory of evolution with religion, brought a great shock to popular beliefs at the time by stating that Adam was not the first man. He said, “Human life has two eras: a primitive era belonging to millions of years ago and an era that began by the assignment of Adam”. From the commencement of this era, human got involved in evolution and gradually the thoughtful human emerged (6).

Acceptance of the theory of evolution by Mojahedin made them attempt to clarify this issue in their book entitled Cognition. Discussing the creation of man and universe, the book explains that all changes, even those that look qualitative on the surface, are in fact a part of quantitative changes and they will gradually set the grounds for immense qualitative changes i.e., resurrection.

It is emphasized in this book that the world is dynamic and the assumption that phenomena are still signifies their non-existence. (7) Following Cognition, the book Evolution was compiled by Ali Mihandust, which was based on Dr. Sahabi’s book of Creation of Man. In the book, Sahabi does not consider the theory of evolution to be contrary to religious teachings. Consequently, the MKO accepted the principle of evolution (8).

The Liberation Movement’s support of Mojahedin was not only intellectual, but also political and to some extent financial. Bazargan was always worried about his former disciples and would never hesitate to help them. Sahabi described this concern, quoting that: “One night, Bazargan said that he was worried that MKO members might become exposed and that they would not be able to continue their fight and if necessary, he was going to sell his house and give them the money.”

Although at first, members of the MKO had a strong intellectual connection with the Liberation Movement, but it gradually faded away as their Marxist thoughts became more prominent. For instance, Mojahedin thought of Ayatollah Taleghani as a progressive cleric with a petty-bourgeois base who, by accepting private property and criticizing Marxists, was part of the petty-bourgeois strata of society. Therefore, in their view, Ayatollah Taleghani was theoretically behind Mao and Ho Chi Minh (11).

Bazargan also wrote the book”Scientific Nature of Marxism”after members of the MKO had converted to Marxism in 1975. In this book, he describes the return to a communal society as a kind of regression and negation of evolution. He also explicitly defends property and believes that property is so old that it is seen in animals earlier than humans. This way, Bazargan has denied, in his book, what Mojahedin call a classless monotheistic society.

Overall, a review of the relationship between the MKO and the Liberation Movement indicates that although Mojahedin had intellectual roots in the Liberation Movement, their affiliation with them gradually diminished as the secular aspects of the organization gained prominence. They became a closed independent Stalinist organization and started criticizing leaders of the Liberation Movement leaders which eventually led to removing from their educational sources all the doctrines of the Liberation Movement.

References
(1) Twenty-five-year Political History of Iran (from coup to revolution), Gholamreza Nejati, 1998, pp 393-394
(2) Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), Hossein Ahmadi Rouhani, 2011, p 43
(3) Over the Persian Gulf, Mohsen Nejat Hosseini, 2011, p 419
(4) Collection of Works Vol 1, Mahdi Bazargan, 2012, pp 125-130
(5) Talks, Memoirs and Analytical Articles about the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, Bahman Bazargani, p 116
(6) Talks, Memoirs and Analytical Articles about the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, Bahman Bazargani, p 112
(7) People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, 1972, pp 28 & 85
(8) Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization Arising & the End (1965-2005(, A group of authors, p 323
(9) Iran’s Liberation Movement from its Establishment to its Split, Abbas Ali Gholi Tayefe Abbas, p126
(10) Memories and Reflections in Shah Prison, Mohammad Mohammadi Gorgani, 2017, p 361
(11) Iran’s Liberation Movement from its Establishment to its Split, Abbas Ali Gholi Tayefe Abbas, p 136

September 23, 2020 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

MEK Members’ Only Task: Achieve Martyrdom By Dying For Maryam Rajavi

News of the deaths of at least two MEK members from COVID-19 last week was troubling. In April, Albania was warned that the MEK’s refusal to allow public health officials to access the closed camp in Manez could put the lives of the residents and local citizens at risk. Families of MEK members have petitioned Edi Rama and his government to take steps to prevent a tragedy. Unfortunately, the state of Albania appears to be in thrall to the Rajavi cult and has failed to challenge, change or contain it. Health officials are still denied access to the MEK’s closed camp, which has no registered doctors among its residents, and deaths there are not subject to a Coroner’s report. It is hard to imagine worse conditions in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of putting the lives of her followers at the forefront of her concerns, MEK leader Maryam Rajavi gleefully claimed these newly dead as “martyrs” and heaped praise on them simply for dying. Two things are significant in this callous declaration. First, the cause of death was missing, unlike all previously announced deaths for which some explanation – true or not – has been forthcoming. Such an omission will be interpreted as an admission; these individuals really did die from COVID-19.

Second, Rajavi has found a new way to exploit the concept of ‘martyrdom’ which her husband so skilfully manipulated for years. Not only did MEK websites proclaimed the dead as martyrs, but now Rajavi heaped praise on them for dying without abandoning “the struggle”. In doing so, Rajavi has redefined what martyrdom means for the members. To achieve martyrdom now, all one has to do is to die while obedient to Rajavi.
In 1965, the MEK founders adopted the Shia culture of venerating martyrdom along with lessons learned from Marxist revolutionary struggles. The MEK celebrated its first suicide bombing on 9/11: a young MEK activist stepped forward to clasp Ayatollah Sayyid Asad Allah Madani after the Friday Prayer on September 11, 1981, exploding a bomb that killed them both. Revolutionary struggle before and after the 1979 Revolution produced its share of martyrs; mostly helped by the zealous purges of opposition to Ayatollah Khomeini’s newly formed Islamic Republic.

When Massoud Rajavi seized leadership of the MEK, the organization’s fate was sealed. The self-appointed guru instigated a programme of coercive mind control (aka brainwashing) which resulted in a membership fearfully and mindlessly obedient to his whims and demands. In re-purposing the MEK from revolutionary group to personality cult used to pursue a terrorism campaign against Iran, Rajavi very quickly realised that martyrdom was a commodity which he could bank like gold or dollars. It became known in the MEK as a blood bank – the more blood the better. For Rajavi, the ‘book of martyrs’ acted like the share prospectus of a big company, advertising its success.

And so it continued, through the disastrous Eternal Light operation of 1988 (which Rajavi exploited by attacking his followers for not believing in him enough), the deployment of suicide squads into Iran in the next decade, to putting in harm’s way various clusters of members – such as the battles over Camp Ashraf. Over the past four decades, Rajavi has accrued a rich harvest of martyrs through suicide bombings, self-immolations and swallowing cyanide capsules in the name of “the struggle” against the “mullah’s regime”. As the deaths from these tactics added to Rajavi’s blood bank, the blood bank itself garnered him political capital from other bloodthirsty warmongers. John McCain, Rudi Giuliani, John Bolton all showed willing to risk their reputations to make lucrative speeches praising and advocating the MEK based on this blood bank; ‘the MEK will get results’ they claim.

But since the MEK were deported to Albania, Maryam Rajavi has been deprived of opportunities for creating martyrs. Her claims that agents of the Iranian regime want to come to the MEK camp to kill the members have no basis in fact and are only used to frighten the members into continued submission. Instead, she has had to rely on the baseline of attrition through death which has underpinned the MEK’s membership numbers for at least two decades: that is, deaths by natural causes – old age and sickness – deaths by suicide and deaths by murder – often disguised as suicides. Whatever the causes of these deaths, their numbers are highly disproportionate in comparison with a cohort of the same demographic of population living in normal society. In other words, deaths in the MEK are not natural nor inevitable; only desirable. They add to the blood bank of martyrs.

Graves of MEK members in a public graveyard in Tirana.

These deaths, however, are not only mundane – elderly and sick people dying in bed – they are not enough. Previously, Massoud Rajavi commanded the 3800 members that in May 2003, coalition officers consolidated in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. According to a 2017 UNHCR report, a total of 2,901 individuals were relocated to Albania in the course of 2016. The Albanian police reported at the end of 2016 that “There are about 2745 MEK members in our country: 11 members have died; 80 have left our country with regular papers; 65 were illegally removed; Mojahedin who continue to be full members of MEK and follow their rules for living as members are 2621; Mojahedin dissociated from MEK are 124 people”.

We see from this that one of the biggest problems for Rajavi is not the untimely and disproportionate number of deaths among her followers, but the even greater attrition through desertion. Since arriving in Albania, the members have become disillusioned. In spite of relentless brainwashing, coercion and harsh punishments for disobedience, many members took advantage of their new location to escape the group. Currently, just over 2,000 remain. To prevent more people leaving, Rajavi created a closed, isolated camp to incarcerate the enslaved members, where cynically they are worked to death for “the cause”. Time has exhausted the once vigorous fighters who pledged to fight to overthrow the Iranian regime. The members are now old and sick and in danger of giving up. According to Rajavi, their only task now is to die in her service and be banked as martyrs. The definition of MEK martyrdom has been truly hollowed out

September 21, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Mother of Fereydoun Nedayee’s letter to the Prime Minister of Albania

Ms. Roghayeh Farazian Fard Kohan, the mother of Fereydoun Nedayi, a member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) in Albania, has written and sent a letter to the Albanian Prime Minister, who is in charge of the MEK in Albania, about obstacles to contact with her son.

Fereydoun Nedayi’s mum in front of the MEK Camp gates in Iraq

The text of the letter is as follows:

Mr. Edi Rama
Honorable Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania
With respect

I am Roghayeh Farazian Fard Kohan, the elderly mother of Fereydoun Nedayi. My son went to military services in the army in Iran in 1979 and was captured by Iraqi forces on the battlefield in 1980. He was held captive in Iraqi POW camps for eight years. In 1988, a ceasefire was established between Iran and Iraq, but the Iraqi government refused to return prisoners of war. A year later, in 1989, the situation in the POW camp was deliberately worsened, and then the MEK entered and talked to the POWs and took some of them to Camp Ashraf with the promise of sending them to Europe. They were unaware that they would experience captivity in a different way.

After the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, I approached to Camp Ashraf many times and begged to meet with my son, but unfortunately, the MEK officials not only prevented me to visit my son, but greeted me with insults and stones.

I was happy after my son moved to Albania because I thought he would definitely be able to call me there. But then it became clear that members of the MEK were not allowed to communicate with their families there either.
I am a mother and I have the right to know the status of my son. I am extremely concerned about my son’s health, given the fact of spreading coronavirus disease and the death of a number of MEK members in the organization’s camp in Albania. Does my son’s phone call to his family hurt anyone? If Fereydoun’s elderly mother supposedly travels to Albania and meet with her son, will there be a breakdown in their task?

Mr. Edi Rama

You definitely have a family too. Can you be unaware of your children for so many years? I have not seen my son since 1980 and I have no news about his condition. Is forty years of separation and ignorance really a mother’s right? How long should I wait?

Fereydoun’s father has been bedridden for a long time now and is not in good condition. He only wants to call his son and asks me about Fereydoun every day, but I have no answer to give him. As a humanitarian action, I urge you to remove the barriers to communication with my son.

Thank you in advance for your efforts
Roghayeh Farazian Fard Kohan

September 20, 2020 0 comments

Missions of Nejat Society

Nejat families letter to the Albania’s PM

Khuzestani families write a letter to Albanian PM, expressing concern over increase of deaths amongst
the MEK members in the country

a number of families of the members trapped in the MEK camp in Albania from Khuzestan province

The text of the letter to Edi Rama is as follows:

Mr Edi Rama, Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania
We respectfully wish to inform you that through the websites of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO), we learned about the death of two members of this group from Khuzestan province (southwestern Iran) on Saturday, named Ms Shahin Qassemi and Mr Massoud Nasiri, from the city of Masjed-e Soleiman, who were based in MEK camp. We are deeply sorry and we are worried about the situation of other members.

Your Excellency
The announcement of the passing away of MEK members in recent months without announcing the cause of death, especially in the context of the outbreak of coronavirus, has left the families intensely concerned. Reports from the medical staff at Mother Teresa Hospital in Albania indicate that at least three Iranian nationals have been hospitalized and at least one of them have died, possibly due to coronavirus. The Albanian branch of the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about the lack of a permit to enter the MEK camp and observe the situation of the situation there, raising concerns about the health of our relatives at the camp.

Who is responsible for these suspicious deaths? In this regard, who should announce the cause of these deaths? Why aren’t their families informed when members become ill so that they can think of a solution before they die? We, the Khuzestani families of the MEK members based in Albania, offer our condolences and sympathy to the families of these victims, and ask you, as the executive authority of the Albanian government and directly responsible for MEK members in your country, based on human duty and sense of responsibility for members’ health. Please try to end this sad tragedy of the daily death of members in your country and make the MEK officials and Maryam Rajavi, the leader of this group, accountable for the concerns of families to save the lives of their loved ones and let them to meet with the relatives to find out about their situation.

We demand that the perpetrators of negligence and indifference to the health of our loved ones be identified in any situation and in any position, and you, of course, will be held responsible as the Prime Minister of the host government.

With respect
Khuzestani families of MEK members in Albania
Transcript:
delegation-albania@eeas.europa.eu
ccpr@ohchr.org

September 20, 2020 0 comments

Missions of Nejat Society The cult of Rajavi

The death of Massoud Nassiri was confirmed to be due to Corona

Concerned families send letters to the World Health Organization in Albania.

Reliable reports from Mother Teresa Hospital, as well as the Tirana University Clinic and sources in the Ministry of Health in Albania, indicate that Massoud Nassiri, 63, a member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, Rajavi Cult), a resident of the organization’s camp in Albania, was definitely infected and died with the Covid-19 virus nine days ago.

Under pressure from the Rajavi Cult on Albanian officials, they initially denied the allegations. A spokeswoman for the Albanian Ministry of Health even told reporters that no Iranian in Albania had died of the coronavirus.

But finally, with the efforts of reporters and following up on various sources, it became clear that the death of Massoud Nassiri was definitely due to the disease caused by the Coronavirus, and also a lot of efforts have been made to hide this issue. It is not clear how many suspected deaths of MEK members in Albania in recent months have been due to the disease, and the cause of death has been kept secret.

The Rajavi cult’s secrecy, with the cooperation of Albanian government officials, doubles the concerns of families. Why should the Rajavi Cult, which has always accused Iranian officials of concealing the statistics related to the outbreak and deaths of the corona pandemic, try to hide the cause of Massoud Nassiri’s death and probably some others?

The families of members of the MEK in Albania have sent letters and messages to WHO officials warning of a humanitarian catastrophe at the camp and calling for immediate action to visit and monitor health conditions there.

September 19, 2020 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

MEK commanders treat members like serfs: Albanian journalist

Pointing to the brutal behavior of MEK ringleaders with their members in their camp, Gjergji Thanasi tells the Tehran Times this fact is enough to predict how brutally MEK will treat the Iranian people if they ever come to power in Iran.

He believes if the Rajavi cult comes to power they will transform Iran into a Hell on the earth.

Albania _Thanasi

This is the text of the interview:

Q: You have claimed the presence of 7,200 members in the MEK camp in Albania. How did MEK increase the number of its fighters in the Albanian territory between 2016 and 2019, while it was numbered 3,000 when they first arrived in Albania?

A: Albanian authorities offered no precise official figure of MEK members coming to Albania. The best they made public was “several thousand MEK members came to Albania between 2013 and 2016.” Figure 7 000 I made public was based on the data offered by “Instituti i Statistikave” (The Institute of Statistics). This is a government board whose director is appointed by the prime minister himself. This institute published the figure of 7 000 Iranian residents in Albania. Apart from a handful of Iranian diplomats and a score of Iranian (refugees, illegal migrants) in prison or in the refugee center of Kareci, there are virtually no other Iranians in Albania but for the inmates of Ashraf 3 Camp in Manez (Durres Municipality), i.e., the MEK personnel.

It is simple math that if there are 7 000 Iranian residents in Albania, almost all of them are MEK members. In order to obtain more precise data, you can consult the photos of the data sheets issued by the fore mentioned institute (Instituti i Statistikave). I cannot speculate how the number of MEK members increased. There is a virtual official blackout covering MEK, its membership, and its activities in Albania. The way they enter Albania (what travel documents they use to enter), the way they leave Albania mainly by plane is never made public by the Albanian authorities. We Albanians learn that the cult leader Maryam Rajavi left Albania only occasionally, as in the case when border police and emigration of Belgium refused her entering the Kingdom of Belgium while she was traveling from Albania to Belgium.

Q: Why was Albania chosen as the host country for the MEK?

A: Albania was chosen as a host country for MEK personnel as it was considered as a sui generis “Ersatz”. Virtually no country accepted MEK personnel on their soil. Even Vanuatu refused to accept a dozen of them. In 2013 we accepted little more than 200 MEK members in Albania. Mr. Berisha, the then premier of Albania during the official ceremony of the arrival of the new Iranian ambassador in Tirana, Mr. Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, told the ambassador that we have an understanding with UNCHR and our American partners that a limited number of members of that organization (MEK) will settle in Albania, while the rest will settle in other NATO, and, or EU countries such as Romania and Bulgaria. Premier Berisha also inquired whether the Iranian Embassy was ready to issue travel documents to any of MEK members who wished to return to Iran. The ambassador’s answer was that his embassy staff would not deprive any Iranian consular service. Then in 2016, after the then Secretary of State Kerry visited Albania, hundreds and hundreds of MEK members began arriving in Albania by plane accompanied by officials of UNHCR. I feel very sorry, yet my personal impression was that only the Albanian government in the whole world volunteered to Mr. State Secretary Kerry to serve as a refuge for that “human trash,” i.e., those MEK members arriving and settling in Albania.

Q: Does the Albanian government or the United Nations oversee events inside the MEK camp?

A: There is nothing official! Neither the United Nations nor the Albanian government has ever made public that they oversee or that they do not oversee what happens inside the gated compound called Ashraf 3 Camp in Manez (Durres Municipality). In 2018 a classified document of the General Directorate of the State Police was leaked to the press. This document contained data and facts which prove that our police force tried to keep an eye on the MEK members and their activities. Yet the information contained in this leaked document was generally vague, with a few details or hard facts. Officially no government employee of Albania (police, army, secret service, inner revenue inspectors, health inspectors, municipal police of Durres Municipality, water inspectors, even firefighters) can enter the camp without the express permission of the MEK commanders. When they receive permission to enter the camp, their vehicles (even official police cars with police marking and police plates) are thoroughly searched, even using telescopic mirrors. Then they are ordered to park their vehicles in a designated area, and they proceed on foot. Sometimes even distinguished guests invited by the commanders of the camp (I mean written invitations) are body searched using metal detectors.

When the Municipality of Durres informed MEK that they offered personnel and equipment to disinfect the camp in order to prevent any outbreak of Covid-19 in the camp, they were profusely thanked, and they were very politely declined permission to enter Ashraf 3 Camp.

Even in case of a pandemic outbreak, the local authorities and even our health ministry representatives were not allowed to enter into the gated compound of MEK in Manez near Durres city. One can imagine how little Albanian authorities can oversee events inside the MEK compound. To properly explain to Iranian public opinion, I shall draw this comparison: It was easier for an Iranian Arab to enter and inspect his land estate during Soviet occupation, let us say in 1942, than for an Albanian official to enter and inspect Ashraf 3 Camp of MEK in Albania let us say in 2020.

Q: What is the role of the United States in supporting the Rajavi cult in Albania?

A: There is a lot of hearsay about the Americans’ role in supporting the “Animal Farm” of Maryam Rajavi in Albania.

Apart from State Secretary Kerry’s visit in 2016, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, in written form to prove American hand or at least U.S. finger in the Ashraf 3 “pie.”

Even the accord between the Albanian government and UNHCR is a closely guarded secret. There is a lot of transparency about, let us say, the investment of 50 million USD by NATO (U.S.) in upgrading the military Airport of Kucova, yet an Albanian or foreign journalist can have no info about that accord, the rights and the obligation of Rajavi cult followers residing in Ashraf 3 Camp!

Yet the way MEK members physically enter the offices of our Ministry of Interior (they have special passes), the way their vehicles traveled during the curfew time (Covid-19 pandemics), without being stopped by police or Albanian Army checkpoints and roadblocks means that their patron was an entity powerful enough to change the Albanian officials and civil servants into obedient Quislings of MEK.

However, no Albanian journalists have seen even a scrap of official paper issued by the U.S. embassy in Albania or any other department of U.S. administration regarding MEK presence in Albania.

Let me give you a personal example. In August 2019, I sued defendant Behzad Saffarin a MEK commander, for libel as he had published articles accusing me of being an infamous spy of Iranian MOIS.

In one year, the first judge of my case resigned not only of my case but also from the justice system to pursue a private-sector career. The judge replacing the former one was arrested some four days ago on corruption charges. The hearing of my case was postponed five times on different grounds. There were seven hearing sessions, yet there is no progress beyond the introduction and identification by the judge of the parties and their lawyers taking part in this legal case! I invite the readers to try to imagine what is that mysterious and powerful entity that pushes Albanian judges to string puppets or ruin their career and sometimes even their personal liberty.

Q: Is the Rajavi cult a pro-democracy group?

A: They treat their members as serfs and as robots. I believe this fact is enough to understand how they will treat the Iranian people if they ever come to power in Tehran.
I have visited Iran, and I can assure anybody that present-day Iran is not Paradise on earth, yet the Rajavi cult seizing power means transforming Iran into “hell” on the earth. To speak of this sect as a pro-democracy group is to tell a tall lie and to be proud of telling such a lie!

Q: What a threat can the MEK pose to Albania’s national security?

A: Our national army is only 6 000 strong (with 5 000 others theoretically in reserve). Imagine for a moment there are 450 000 Albanians with military experience or military trained to live in gated compounds in Iran. Do you feel secure in Iran with foreign “guests” outnumbering your Army? Now imagine some of these foreign “guests” have blood on their hands (Iranians’ blood, Iraqi Shiites’ blood, Kurds’ blood, and even some Americans’ blood); how do an average Iranian in the street feel?

We have very tough money laundering enforcement laws in Albania. As an Albanian, I am not allowed to transfer even 3 000 Euros to my daughter studying in Germany without filling a lot of forms to declare the origin of the money I am sending to my daughter. A conservative figure of the land and the facilities in Ashraf 3 Camp is 100 million pounds. I defy the MEK cult to make public bank documents for the transfer to Albania of even a fraction of 100 million pounds. How did they transfer that immense sum of money (at least in Albania, it is considered immense) without using bank channels? Why money laundering law enforcement vanishes in the thin air when MEK money is in question? Why the rule of law fails to work for these “guest” on the Albanian soil!?

In 2014 with the U.S. embassy’s aid, the Albanian Parliament drafted and passed a law to severely punish anyone inciting people to wage war against another country. The “inhabitants” of The Animal Farm of the Rajavi cult in Albania 24 hours a day, seven days a week spread propaganda and incite people to wage war against Tehran! I ask the question: Is Iran a country or maybe Iran is some alien spacecraft, so is it the duty of the human race to wage war against such aliens? We Albanians have no cause to go to war against Iran, yet nobody tries to uphold the Albanian law passed in 2014 with the U.S. embassy’s aid and funding in Tirana (USAID funding). Why should my country be transformed into an outpost to wage war against Tehran? As far as I know, Iran has not occupied even an inch of Albanian lands. The last time Iranian fought against the Albanians was some 25 centuries ago when the Persian Army of Xerxes the Great fought against the Greeks, and some Illyrian tribes allied with the Greek city-states (Illyrian are our ancient forefathers).

I fail to see the Albanian national interest at the Albanian administration’s conniving at the fact that this Rajavi cult infringes the 2014 law while inciting war against Tehran. If MEK wants to wage war against Tehran, it can go somewhere else and wage war against their homeland just as they did during “Mirsad Operation.” I strongly believe that Albania’s security is threatened if my Albania is used as a place to recruit an army against Iran, a heavily armed country like Iran!

Q: What is the view of the Albanian people towards MEK and their presence in their country?

A: I cannot speak on behalf of the Albanian people!

September 19, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

I am worried about my son’s health at MEK camp in Albania

Honorable representative of the World Health Organization in Albania,
I am Mohammad Vali Gholizadeh, the father of Ali Gholizadeh, a prisoner of the MEK cult.

With the current situation, I am worried about my son’s health at MEK camp in Albania.

I desperately ask you to visit the MEK cult camp in Albania, and allow us to contact my son. Please aware us of my dear son’s condition.

My phone number:
09031327526/09112842282

Thanks in advance,

September 17, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Nejat families letter to the head of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on HR

Letter from the head of the West Azarbaijan Nejat Society to the human rights officer of the European Parliament

The following letter was sent by the head of the Nejat Society of West Azarbaijan Province (north-west Iran) to Maria Arena, Head of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, regarding the non-response of the Albanian government to the request of the families to contact and visit their loved ones in the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO) camp in that country. Summaries of a number of families’ request letters have also been attached to this letter.

Ms Maria Arena MEP, Head of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights

Greetings and Regards,
On behalf of the families of West Azarbaijan Province, in unison with other families throughout Iran whose children are being held in the MEK camp in Albania, I would like to inform you that they only want to communicate with their children so that they can at least hear their voices after so many years of distance. But the MEK leaders are preventing their members from having any contact with the outside world, and the Albanian government supports this cultic behavior.

The bereaved families recently issued a petition with more than 11,000 signatures to visit their children and sent it to Albanian government officials. The share of families and supporters in West Azarbaijan Province is more than 500 signatures.

In addition to this request, many letters and video messages have been prepared by families to their loved ones trapped in the MEK camp in Albania, which they have published in cyberspace so that those may reach their children. To date, however, the Albanian government and international human rights organizations have not responded.

On the other hand, the officials of the MEK, not only did not pay any attention to the demands of the families, but also threatened, insulted and slandered the families in their media and ignored their demands.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 virus, the concern of families has increased because the MEK members have a collective life in a closed environment where the disease spreads rapidly and on the other hand no health control is applied by the authorities. Recently, it was reported that two members of the MEK, Massoud Nasiri and Shahin Qassemi, had died at the Mother Teresa Hospital in Tirana due to corona, and that a number of members were hospitalized in the corona ward.

It should be noted that in recent years, the MEK has deceived many people and attracted them into its organization under the pretext of a better life, education and work in European countries. It has also deceived many Iranian prisoners of war in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

Now the families of these people, who have not seen their children for years and have not even heard their voices, and are unaware of their condition, are asking you, as a European human rights official, to take a stand on this issue and defend their rights. Please ask the Albanian government to remove barriers to communication and allow these families to visit.

For your information, the summary of a small number of dozens of letters of request from the families of West Azarbaijan Province, just as examples, are attached to this letter.

Many Thanks – Head of the West Azarbaijan Nejat Society

maria.arena@europarl.europa.eu

Families of MEK hostages in ALbania - west Azarnayjan

Summaries of the letters:

Mr Mohammad Reza Mohammadnejad’s request to meet with his brother Bahman Mohammadnejad from Naqadeh

Currently, my only brother Bahman is in the hands of the MEK in Albania. As far as our family is concerned, we will do our best to get news from him and communicate with him.

In two videos, Mr. Mohammadnejad called on the Albanian government to stand up to the MEK’s demands and allow him to meet with his brother, Bahman Mohammadnejad, in Albania.

Letter from Mr Yadollah Allahverdi Khalifani from Naqadeh to the Prime Minister of Albania Mr Edi Rama

I am Yadollah Allahverdi Khalifani, the brother of Naqi Allahverdi Khalifani. My brother has been in the MEK for more than 32 years and is now in the camp of this group in your country.

The MEK deceived my brother in Turkey and took him to Iraq. He was then transferred to your country in 2016 and held in a closed, remote camp of the organization.

During all this time, including since this organization transferred our children to your country, it has not allowed any contact or visitation with the family.

As the Prime Minister of Albania, I ask you to put an end to our concerns as a family at the earliest opportunity and to assist in issuing a visa for me to enter your country and meet with my brother.

Request to meet Mr Abdollah Gorky with his brother Abdorrahman Gorky from Bukan

My dear brother, a few days ago, we signed a family petition asking the Albanian government to issue visas to families for humanitarian reasons and allow them to travel to Albania to see their loved ones. This is not the first time. When you were in Iraq, we went to different places several times to follow up on your situation, but we did not hear from you. Now we want to try again, maybe this time it will be effective.

Mr Miri Hosseini’s appeal to see his captive brother, Hossein Hosseini, after 32 years in captivity in Saddam and Rajavi camps from Salmas

“My brother Hussein was a member of the 77th Khorasan Division. Finally, he put on the holy uniform of a soldier and went to the battlefields. Hussein enlisted in the army in 1986 and had only 20 days left in his service. He was later handed over to the group in exchange for the good service of the MEK leaders to Saddam Hussein, in order to experience captivity in a different way.

Now I want my brother to call us so that we can hear his voice at least after being away for 32 years.

Mr Abdollah Ebrahimi appeals to the Prime Minister of Albania and human rights organizations to obtain information about his nephew Rasoul Shakhsizadeh from Sardasht

Rasoul Shakhsizadeh was captured by Iraqi forces and taken to a POW camp on Iraqi soil while walking and carrying goods on his back in impassable areas in the Sardasht border area. Rasoul was handed over to the group at Camp Ashraf after being subjected to various forms of mental and physical torture for some time under an agreement between Iraqi officials and MEK leaders. After the expulsion of the organization from Iraq, Rasoul was taken to Albania.

“We have not heard from him since then and we are still in complete ignorance. We tried to find a way to meet or call him through human rights organizations, but to no avail” said Abdollah Ebrahimi, Rasoul’s uncle. Rasoul’s parents, who had been waiting to see him for years, passed away longing to see their son.

Akbar Khosravi’s parents’ painful letter to their child captive in Albania from Naqadeh

My son, all your brothers and sisters are waiting to see you, we hope to see and hug you again before it’s too late, and we miss you so much. My son, call us.

Mr. Shahram Jafari Kia requests from the Albanian government to meet with his brother Bahram Jafari Kia from Orumieh

We recently signed a petition with the Albanian government on behalf of the families, requesting visas and permits for the families to visit their children and their siblings.

I think this is the minimum demand and the most basic human right of every person and family to meet and communicate with their loved ones. We will continue our efforts.

Letter from Mr Ali Eftekhar to his sister Fatemeh Eftekhar captive in the MEK from Khoy

My dear sister, I do not know whether you know or not, my father died at the age of 92, longing to see you.

Now mother is too old and eager to see you and wishes to embrace you, I hope you do not withhold this love from her.

We now ask the esteemed Government of Albania to provide the possibility of face-to-face meetings or at least telephone calls for families, which is a humanitarian and human rights practice. We appreciate the assistance and cooperation of the esteemed Albanian government.

September 16, 2020 0 comments

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