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Second Day of Hunger Strike by detained ASILA members

The detained members of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) maintain hunger strike for the second day. Having been isolated in the detention center of Albanian foreign nationals, they protest their illegal detention by going on hunger strike.

Hassan Heyrani, Mehdi Soleimani, Ali Hajari, Hassan Shahbaz, and Gholamreza Shekari have been detained in Camp Kareç, a migrant detention center in north of Tirana, since last month, despite having legal residence permit.

Second day of ASILA members hunger strike

These five former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq who enjoy legal residence permit in the Albanian territory protest their detention without being given an opportunity to be heard promptly by a judicial or other authority. They have been detained for a month even though they have not been convicted of a crime.

December 7, 2022 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

MEK terrorists disguised as charity people

The formerly designated terrorist of the Mujahedin-e Khalq has sent its agents among the Albanian vulnerable groups and the community of Durres region under the cover of charitable activities.

The MEK’s rank and file are located in the village of Manez in Durres in a barred camp called Ashraf 3. Regarding the violent past of the group with a background of numerous terrorist activities and cult-like attitudes. The group threatens the lives and peace of Albanian citizens, risking their public safety under the cover of providing free medical services to vulnerable groups and the community.

Emiriana Sako; the mayor of Duress at the MEK event

The mayor of Durres, Emiriana Sako, who seems to be perfectly blackmailed by the MEK agents, have posted pictures of the event held by the MEK in one of the schools of Durres appreciating the “Ashraf 3 representatives” financial aids to bring doctors from the United States of America to launch this “humanitarian initiative”.
This is while, the most recent stance of the United States administration against the MEK was published a few weeks ago. On November 15th, the US State Department spokesperson told media outlets that it “continues to have serious concerns” about the MEK, including long-standing allegations about abuse committed against its members.

“As we have said, while the United States revoked the designation of the MEK as a foreign terrorist organization in September 2012, the United States does not see the MEK as a viable democratic opposition movement that is representative of the Iranian people,” reads the statement of the DOS.

As the MEK’s high-ranking member, Behzad Saffari is seen in the photos flattering Ms. Mayor of Durres, she should be warned about the fate of MEK’s former charity activities that were banned in England and Germany. While the MEK is considered a very wealthy organization with unknown financial resources, its charities to raise fund have been always under scrutiny.

According to the 2009 report of the American institute, RAND Corporation, “Although a large portion of the NCRI’s funding was provided by Saddam Hussein and some came from Saudi Arabia, the NCRI also raised money through fraud. For example, until recently, MeK supporters sought donations at airports and public parks, often showing gruesome pictures of women who had been tortured by the IRI, by claiming to raise money for human rights victims in Iran but funneling the money to the MeK instead. The FBI arrested seven MeK supporters for raising more than $1 million for a sham charity, the Committee for Human Rights in Iran, at Los Angeles International Airport. The British Charities Commission closed another MeK sham charity, Iran Aid, after finding no “verifiable links between the money donated by the British public [approximately £5 million annually] and charitable work in Iran.”14 The German High Court closed several MeK safehouses, “foster” homes, and compounds after an investigation revealed that the MeK fraudulently collected between $5 million and $10 million in social welfare benefits.” (RAND report, P. 59)

Former US Vice President Mike Pence

Disguising as benevolent guys, the agents of Maryam Rajavi try to deceive the Albanian public opinion. This is not the first time that they offer free doctor and glasses to the citizens of their neighborhood. Offering a free trip to Europe to American doctors with free residence in luxurious hotel rooms is what the MEK has expertise in.
For their so-called annual great gathering weather in Albania or Paris they are used to spend lavish fees to host Western speakers. The news media are filled with the accounts of MEK’s paying large amounts of money to former politicians in order to speak on behalf of the group. A large number of Western politicians have been on the MEK’s payroll: National Security Adviser John Bolton and the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have both charged hefty fees to speak at MEK rallies in the past few years. Mike Pence, former US vice-president and his wife were the most recent high-profile figures who were received by Rajavi, in Ashraf 3, in June.

Nevertheless, The MEK propaganda accuses the cultural activities of the Association for the support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) as a threat for the Albanian citizens while the association has been founded by former members of the group, itself. Activities of ASILA including holding book fair or donating notebooks to students are clearly aimed at developing cultural links between the two countries.

December 7, 2022 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

ASILA members on hunger strike to protest illegal detention

The 5 people who are former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization and current members of the Association for the support of Iranians living in Albania(ASILA), staged hunger strike to protest their unreasoned detention.

Hassan Heyrani, Mehdi Soleimani, Ali Hajari, Hassan Shahbaz, and Gholamreza Shekari have been kept in isolation in a camp in Kareç, the center for illegal immigrants, without any reason to be mentioned by the Albanian immigration Police.

ASILA representative says these individuals enjoy regular residence permits.
Members of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania held a demonstration outside the Albanian immigration and border Police in Tirana to protest against the arrest of six members of the association on Thursday, December 1st.

Hassan Heirani

Ali Hajari

Hassan Shahbazi

Gholamreza Shekari

Mehdi Soleimani

December 6, 2022 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

ASILA’s statement calls for release of the detained members

Members of the Association for the support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) delivered a statement by the end of their protest in front of the Albanian immigration and border Police.

Hamid Atabay read a statement at the end of the rally

On Thursday December 1st, the Iranian and Albanian members of ASILA protested against detention of six members of the association, Hassan Heyrani, Mehdi Soleimani, Ehsan Bidi, Hassan Shahbaz, Gholamreza Shekari and Ali Hajari by the Albanian immigration and border Police in Kareç detention centre, in north of Tirana.
Hamid Atabay the most recent defector of the Mujahedin Khalq who immediately joined ASILA after his defection read a statement at the end of the rally. The statement proclaims:

“We, members of ASILA gathered together to ask the Albanian government to release our friends. We are peaceful people who want a normal life. We are neither interested in political activities, nor in religious activities.
The United Nations and the US government relocated us in Albania to save our lives. The Albanian authorities and political parties all agreed that we had been transferred to a democratic country. Now, what is the matter that they have detained 6 of our friends without explanation of charges and Judicial enlightenment?

We demand the Albanian government and political parties to release our friends and to relieve their families who are concerned about them.”

December 5, 2022 0 comments

Albania

Olsi Jazexhi: Albania with MEK like Afghanistan used by Al Qaeda!

The Albanian TV channel, MCN TV interviewed Olsi Jazexhi, the historian. The US Department of State has distanced itself from the Iranian opposition sheltered in Albania, while the Biden administration has been criticized by former representatives of the Trump administration. Olsi jazexhi says he is a researcher on Iran.
In a connection with the MCN TV news studio, he stated that he follows with great interest the role of the Mujahedin_e Khalq in Albania and the adventure of Prime Minister Rama and his ministers to gain points by harboring this former terrorist organization, illegal in our country.

The Albanian TV channel, MCN TV interviewed Olsi Jazexhi, the historian

Dr. Jazexhi says:
I have denounced the arrival of the MEK in our country and have warned about the danger that the sheltering of such an organization in our country would bring, which was proven when Albania became a victim of cyberattacks.
There is a difference in the Trump and Biden administrations regarding the Mujahedin that Albania shelters.
The Mujahideen is a terrorist organization and was classified as such by the EU, USA, Canada and Japan until 2013.

But at that time as part of the nuclear agreement that the US made with Iran, the Mujahideen were removed from the terrorism list to take refuge in Albania.
The Iranian diaspora, most of whom support the former Shah of Iran, have sent many letters to the US government regarding the contacts many officials have had with these people.
The Mujahideen are seen as a dangerous, totalitarian cult and that is why the Americans bombed the Mujahideen in 2003 when they attacked Iraq.

The American government has never funded the Mujahideen. The only thing that does, they found Albania where Edi Rama and Pandeli Majko offered themselves to the Americans, so that the socialists could ensure longevity in the government.
Officially, DASH and the US government have been careful to publicly show that they have no connection with this terrorist organization.

While Jazexhi’s name appears in Microsoft’s report on cyber-attacks as a person authorized to convey a public message to the Albanian government that it was exposing the country to Iranian attacks or counteraction, he said that he has read the report and has also written a public response letter Microsoft.
In this report, we show that our duty as journalists and influencers of public opinion is to tell our Albanian society, to warn our country, when our leadership violates the Criminal Code and articles against terrorism and allows our country to return like Afghanistan in the time of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
I have not been contacted by the Albanian government so far. We have offered our public assistance and expertise to analyze the situation of the Mujahideen.

In Albania, to enter the National Security Council and Parliament, you have to do it with a friend or a bribe.
We want to explain to the Albanian government the danger posed to Albania by the Iranian Mujahideen.
Jazexhi described the issuing of five arrest warrants by the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office, for five IT specialists, under the charge of misuse of duty for cyber attacks.

The accusation raised by prosecutor Bledar Valikaj against IT specialists in some Albanian institutions such as the Ministry of the Interior, was ridiculous.

Specialists are becoming scapegoats to please Edi Rama’s government, that we found the culprits.
They were accused of misuse of duties, inaction because they had not updated their antiviruses.
The prosecutor of the case is the most wrong person in this story!
Bledar Valikaj is the husband of Ermonela Felaj, politician, deputy of the SP and a person sponsored by the Iranian mujahedin.

Supporter of the terrorist organization, has participated in the calls of the Iranian opposition for the violent overthrow of the government organized by the opposition leader Maryam Rajavi.
The first to be questioned is Ermonela Felaj, who is directly responsible for allowing the hacking activity against Iran.

Bledar Valikaj has a conflict of interest because his wife is close to the mujahedin.
There was unprofessionalism in the document, it was said that Albania’s cyber systems were hacked by Iran.
But the Microsoft report does not say that Iran did it, but that it is suspected that Iran did it.
Justice is not based on suspicion, but on evidence. The term that the hacking was done by Iran should have been used.

December 4, 2022 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Anti-MEK statement of the DOS, praised and debunked by the group!

While the Mujahedin-e Khalq first praised the statement of the US State Department as proof for their independence, it took them a few weeks to launch a campaign to debunk it as what they call a “pathetic statement slandering Iran’s principal opposition”.

A State Department spokesperson this month told media outlets that it “continues to have serious concerns” about the MEK, including long-standing allegations about abuse committed against its members, reported Voice of America on November 15th.

MEK’s spokesperson Shahin Ghobadi

The statement was commended by the MEK’s spokesperson Shahin Ghobadi as an evidence that proves the group’s so-called independence from the US government claiming the allegations about the US’s support for the group as lies fabricated by the Iranian government. This is while, the DOS’s statement just came after the American news media, Foreign Policy, reported that the MEK has been supported to be sheltered in Albania under an agreement between the US and Israel.

However, not long afterward, on November 30th, the US administration took criticism from former U.S. officials and lawmakers from both parties for what they call a “flagrant betrayal of the Iranian people” after the State Department distances itself from the MEK, which it said it does not see as a “viable” alternative to the existing government. The former US senators namely blamed the special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, accusing him of seeking to appease the Islamic Republic by criticizing the MEK. The news was embraced by the MEK’s propaganda machine as a victorious outbreak against what they call “Malley’s Anti-MEK Statement.”

Most of these prominent former figures have been on the pay roll of the MEK and special guests of the group’s rallies in Paris and Tirana, offered luxurious first-class flights, hotel rooms and lavish speaking fees for a five-minute speech on behalf of the MEK. Praising the MEK leader Maryam Rajavi as the “president elect” who “has been publicly advocating for a free, democratic Iran”, they say that if Malley “believes that adopting the regime’s false, anti-MEK propaganda will persuade the terrorists to revive JCPOA negotiations, he needs to be relieved from this important mission.”

Robert Malley

According to Fox News, the State Department rejected that claim: “Our assessment of the MEK has nothing to do with our concerns over Iran’s nuclear program or the Iranian regime’s ongoing crackdown against peaceful protestors and abhorrent treatment of women.” Besides, Robert Malley have been expressing concerns over the conditions of Iranian protesters, women and girls during the past months on his official accounts on social media.
Meanwhile, Fox News once more refers to Ghobadi’s allegations as saying that the acknowledgment that the MEK has not received support from the U.S. “reflects the independence of this movement”!

Signatories of the pro-MEK statement include former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former U.N. Ambassador J. Kenneth Blackwell, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, former National Security Advisor James Jones and former Sens. Robert Torricelli and Joseph Lieberman — as well as retired high-ranking military officials. As an example of sponsorship for the MEK, Mukasey is registered as a lobbyist for the NCRI, the umbrella organization of the MEK.

As a recent approval of the MEK’s reliance on US politicians, former US vice president Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, visited Maryam Rajavi, in the group’s headquarters in north of Tirana, Albania, in June this year.
Fox News states that the Relations between the MEK and US warmongers, warmed during the Trump administration as a number of top officials, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Adviser John Bolton have given the group their support and spoken at its events.

December 4, 2022 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

ASILA protest outside the Albanian immigration and border police

Members of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) held a demonstration outside the Albanian immigration and border Police in Tirana. The gathering was held on Thursday, December 1st, to protest against the arrest of six members of the association. The Iranian and Albanian members of Asila voiced their protest against the unreasoned detention of these people, expressing solidarity with them.

Hassan Heyrani, Mehdi Soleimani, Ali Hajari, Hassan Shahbaz, Ehsan Bidi and Gholamreza Shekari, defectors of the Mujahedin-e Khalq and members of ASILA have been kept in isolation in a camp in Kareç, the detention center of Albanian foreign nationals, without any reason to be mentioned by the Albanian immigration Police.

In this gathering that lasted for an hour, the director of Asila, Dr. Dashamir Mersuli called for the release of the association’s arrested members and also asked the Albanian Immigration Police to at least state the reason for imprisoning these people. “These Iranians have their own families here and some of them are going to have babies,” he said. “We are determined to pursue the reasons of such a decision asking for their release.”

The protesters, including the wives of four of the detained members, carried placards with photos of their husbands on, complaining about the unlawful detention of these former members of the MEK.

Lirije Abazi, the wife of Gholamreza Shekari, married a few months ago, said, “Regardless that we are married to Iranian men, we are Albanians who ask the Albanian immigration and border police to respond our appeal.”
Other members of the Asila Association, including Hamid Atabai, a recently escapee from the MEK’s camp located in Manez, in north of Tirana, asked for the release of their colleagues and friends in ASILA. “Our friends are not problem makers,” Atabay said. “They just work hard to provide their families.”

Rahman Mohammadian, who has lately published the book, “From Prison to Prison”, his memoirs of involvement in the MEK in Albanian language, called for liberation of his friends. He wants a reason for the arrest of his friends asking the Albanian authorities, “Isn’t it a hoax played by the MEK?” he asked. “That is why you have not given us any reason for their isolation.”

“We are here to express solidarity with our friends whose detention is unjust and unreasonable,” said Khalil Ansarian, MEK defector and a member of ASILA.

December 3, 2022 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Open letter by families of MEK hostages to Albanian authorities

Families of members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq signed an open letter to the Albanian government of the event to launch the new documentary produced by Nejat Society. On the sidelines of the opening ceremony of “From Tirana to Tehran” the families whose loved ones are taken as hostages by the MEK in Albania and former members of the group signed the letter calling on the Albanian authorities to aid them release their beloveds from the group.

Recounting some of the human rights violations committed by the MEK leaders against their own members, the signatories of the letter declared their concerns over the situation of their loved ones isolated in the MEK’s camp called Ashraf 3 in Manez, a village in north of the Albanian capital, Tirana.

Open letter by families of MEK hostages to Albanian authorities

The families who have been looking forward to contact their loved ones in the MEK for many years now, ask the Albanian government to prevent the MEK leaders from violating the most basic rights of their members including their right to contact their families freely, to marry, to express their opinion and to live a normal life.
Expressing their support for Nejat Society, of which the mission is to aid save the MEK members, the signatories of the letter condemn the MEK’s attitude to violate the rights of its own members. “By signing this petition, we expect the Albanian government and the international human rights bodies to pursue the case of our loved ones and to be responsive to our demands,” they write.

They mention the misinformation launched by the MEK’s propaganda against families. However, they emphasize that the emotional bond with their loved ones is unbreakable. They state, “We are still longing for liberation of and visiting our loved ones despite the MEK’s poisonous propaganda, insults and accusations against us.”
Families of the hostages in Camp Ashraf 3 underlined their determination to keep on their efforts to break through the mental and physical bars that Massoud and Maryam Rajavi have built around their loved ones. In order to achieve this goal, they highlighted the necessity of being accompanied by enlightened and open-minded and unbiased persons, organizations and media.

The letter notifies the case of at least 200 residents of Camp Ashraf 3 who have declared their defection from the group but they have not been allowed to leave the camp. Instead, they have been quarantined by the group commanders. “We have serious concerns on the mental and physical conditions of these people and we warn about the outcomes of the MEK’s maltreatments against them asking for their immediate release,” it put.
According to the families who signed the letter, regarding the recent incidents in Iran, the MEK has gotten more isolated among the Iranian public opinion than it was before and this indicates that the group can not be considered as an alternative to the current government in Iran. Therefore, the group should not be granted the opportunity to abuse the most basic rights of its members anymore.

Reviewing the MEK’s atrocities and acts of terror in Iran and its treasonous siding with Saddam Hussein during Iran-Iraq war, the signatories warn the Albanian authorities about the MEK’s claims for properties as it claimed for possession of its headquarters in Iraqi territory. “In our opinion, the history is repeating itself,” they state. “We are witnessing MEK’s building another headquarters imposing pressure on the host country. What we deeply perceive is the victimization of the Albanians’ national security and interests by the MEK’s evil policies.”

The letter was signed by the families of MEK hostages and former members of the group who had attended the event for the first public presentation of the documentary “From Tirana to Tehran” held by Nejat Society. It was also supported by those families of MEK victims who could not manage to take part in the event. Their messages of support are published on Nejat Society website.

November 29, 2022 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Mother of an MEK hostage to slam Maryam Rajavi

“Mother Saadat” addressed the audience in the premier for Nejat Society’s new documentary, “From Tirana to Tehran”. Hamael Ghanizadeh called Mother Saadat is the mother of three members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq who has not visited her children for over three decades.

Hamael Ghanizadeh aka Mother Saadat , a suffering mother whose children are at the MEK camp in Albania

Mother Saadat mourns in the absence of Mehri, Mahmoud and Nahid Saadat who left home to join the MEK in Iraq during the 1980s. This heart-broken mother used to be a sympathizer of the MEK but now she hates the MEK because she has come to know that her loved ones in Camp Ashraf 3 near Tirana, Albania, are kept there in ignorance from what is going on in the outside world.
During the movie premier, once she was up on the stage to take photos, Mother Saadat told the audience:

“I have not seen my children for 35 years. I raised them with difficulties and now I miss them a lot. They do not write letters and they do not call me. I am addressing Maryam Rajavi. Do you believe in another Islam? Are you allowed to get married with two husbands but our children are deprived from marrying and visiting their parents? I am an old heart-broken mother. I might pass away and never see my children.”

November 23, 2022 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Soraya Abdollahi: Our beloveds are barred by the monstrous cult of Rajavi

Soraya Abdollahi, the mother of Amir Aslan Hassanzadeh, was a key speaker at the premier of the new documentary produced by Nejat Society. Last week, the first public presentation of “From Tirana to Tehran” was held by Nejat Society. The movie is a documentary based on the grieves of families of those held as hostages in the camp of the Mujahedin-e Khalq in Tirana, Albania. Soraya has been an active member of Nejat Society for the long years of separation from her son.

Soraya Abdollahi, who have been looking forward to contacting his son, hijacked by the MEK, addressed the audience: “Our beloved children are in captivity of the destructive cult of Rajavi and the monstrous Mujahedin. We, mothers, picketed in Iraq for 4 years only to hug our beloved children but they did not allow us.”
Expressing pleasure for those who have managed to escape the group in recent years she said: “My son has been taken as a hostage in the MEK for 20 years. I and other families have written a large number of letters to human rights organizations but there has been no response. However, we are still standing firmly calling for the release of our loved ones.”

Soraya Abdollahi, the mother of Amir Aslan Hassanzadeh

Soraya Abdollahi has formed a foundation called “Mothers Organization”, members of which are mothers of those who are taken as hostages in the MEK’s headquarters in Albania. “Via our organization we have sent several letters to the International bodies asking for aid,” Abdollahi said.

The mother of Amir Aslan spoke of an intense and prolonged grief that cannot be spoken: the fact that a large number of mothers of MEK hostages are too old to wait for the release of their beloved children. “So many mothers passed away such as the mother of Hamid Atabay whose son has just left the group after 35 years but she is no more in this world to see her son,” she stated. “How do human rights bodies neglect such grieves?”
Amir Aslan Hasanzadeh is a member the MEK recruited by the group in 2002 (1381) when he was 21 years old. Now he is 42 years old. He is not married because as well as all members of the MEK, he has been kept in isolation as a jihadist by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. His mother Sorayah has made efforts to meet him but the MEK leaders have so far manipulated the international community and the Albanian government preventing her and hundreds of other Iranian mothers from contacting their children.

November 23, 2022 0 comments

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