Page 156 – Nejat Society

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

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Fake Journalist, Fake freedom and fake humanitarian aid of the MEK

Another fake persona under the name of”Amir Basiri“who publishes articles on behalf of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO/ MEK/ the Cult of Rajavi) was recently revealed by the American Conservative Magazine.

The first one had been exposed by Murtaza Hussain of the Intercept, last year. He revealed that”Heshmat Alavi“is a created persona run by trolls working inside the camp of the MEK, Ashraf 3, in the region of Durres in Albania. [1] [2]

According to both reports, the so-called articles circulated in certain western media such as Forbes and the Hill under the name of Alavi and Basiri were then boosted by a chain of accounts, many with only a few followers and which solely tweet the authors’ arguments: support for the MEK and regime change in Iran.

Paul Brian and Arthur Bloom of the American Conservative describe the MEK-run troll farm in twitter against the Iranian government as”a hall of mirrors amplifying the case for war with Iran”. They consider the MEK’s large amounts of money going to the pockets of twitter as a good reason to use the platform of this social network for warmongering propaganda and aggressive content.”The ad money from NCRI and pro-MEK accounts seems to have dampened Twitter’s desire to crack down”, they state.”A request for comment from Twitter was not returned as of press time.”[3]

Naturally, the MEK accuses the American Conservative of being the”a mouthpiece for the mullahs”. This accusation is a frequent one against anyone who challenges the MEK regulations or criticizes its behavior. Similarly, they accuse the families of their members who desire to visit their loved ones taken as hostages inside camp Ashraf 3 in Durres, a region in North of Tirana as agents of Iranian regime.

The calls of families of the MEK hostages on the Albanian authorities and human rights bodies have not been responded yet. While their humanitarian request to contact their loved ones in the MEK is totally ignored by the Albanian authorities, the mayor of Durres Emiriana Sako, in a note published in the Washington Times, praises the MEK for providing”humanitarian aid”to the local residents of Manza, Durres! She is proud of accepting the MEK cultic group”as part of their community”. [4]

Mayor of Durres officially expresses her support for what she calls”the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and democracy”and hopes”that the residents of Ashraf 3 can return to their country very soon when freedom and democracy is restored in Iran”.

In an open letter to Maria Arena, the head of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on Human rights, former member of the MEK and the CEO of Nejat Society, Ebrahim Khodabandeh urged her”to endorse the humanitarian demands of the families and asked the Albanian government, which is responsible for this organization in its own country,”why elderly mothers and fathers after some four decades should not have contact with their children“. [5] The right to live in a free world with normal relationships with family and friends is one of the most basic rights of a human being. The MEK members are deprived of such an absolutely humanitarian right.

Western politicians and particularly the authorities of Albania should stop getting fooled by the MEK’s fake journalists, fake democratic gestures and fake humanitarian aids. The authors of the American Conservative accurately suggest,”As a matter of journalistic ethics any organization engaging in systematic dishonesty like this has provided a very good reason to blacklist them”.
Mazda Parsi

References:
[1] Brian, Paul & Bloom, Arthur, Another Opinion Columnist Pushing War with Iran Who Doesn’t Actually Exist, the American Conservative, September 5th, 2020.
[2] Hussain, Murtaza, An Iranian Activist Wrote Dozens of Articles for Right-Wing Outlets. But Is He a Real Person?, the Intercept, July 9th, 2019.
[3] Brian, Paul & Bloom, Arthur, another Opinion Columnist Pushing War with Iran Who Doesn’t Actually Exist, the American Conservative, September 5th, 2020.
[4] Sako, Emiriana, ‘Mutual respect and understanding’ in Ashraf 3, the Washington Times, August 13th, 2020.
[5] Nejat Society CEO’s letter to Ms Maria Arena MEP | Nejat Society

September 15, 2020 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 275

++ Unconfirmed reports from medical personnel in Mother Theresa hospital in Tirana suggest that at least one MEK member has died of COVID-19 in the past week.

++ MEK are on overdrive to fetch up anyone who can string a sentence together to attack Olsi Jazexhi, Gjergji Thanasi and other journalists. As usual, these MEK members are people who are not accessible, who are confined to the camp. MEK knows that anyone outside the camp – lobbyists and others who still have a place in society – will be questioned and challenged. The people in the camp have no stake in society. Analysts say this a panicked reaction by Rajavi because she is confined to Albania and has nowhere else to go. She is spending all the money and energy that she used to spend elsewhere in Albania to keep her foothold there. An Iranian analyst says it’s like she’s in solitary confinement and every now and then the door opens, and a plague of journalists is poured in. Rajavi is phobic about journalists and she is screaming with fright. Some analysts say Albania is the last graveyard of the MEK, they will sit there and rot.

++ This week marked the anniversary of the killing of 51 people in Camp Ashraf in Iraq, 10 Shahrivar 1392. Some former MEK members who were there and are now out have written about the situation. Many write about Massoud Dalili who was the 52nd victim; tortured and killed and his face burned so he would not be recognised. He was identified by the Americans from his DNA. Rajavi kept these one hundred members in the camp to get money – as leverage. Some writers remember that when they were killed, Mohsen Rezai said “never mind about 51 people, just see how much coverage we have got. If we do a hunger strike as well, we’ll get more coverage. That’s more important.” They tried to sell this to us as a victory – as they tried to sell us deportation from Iraq to Albania as a historical victory, comparing it with prophet Mohammad going from Mecca to Madina.

In English:

++ MEK has been left reeling from the inescapable reaction by Albanians to its attacks on journalists and academics. In particular, Olsi Jazexhi, who is a well know academic with a strong media presence, has invited Maryam Rajavi to a public debate about her activities in his country. In another interview, he pointed out that MEK were imposed on Albania by the US and that Albanians, since then, have protested and demanded that MEK should not be located in their country.

++ Nejat Society CEO Ebrahim Khodabandeh and member Soraya Abdullahi have both written to Maria Arena, MEP, Head of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), describing the situation of MEK members in the camp in Albania, the families’ efforts to make contact with them and the Albanian government’s silence over their pleas.

++ Mazda Parsi writing for Nejat Society says

‘Families of the MEK members should plant the seed of hope for their loved ones’. Parsi points out that cults work vigorously to break family ties to create insecurity. “Family relation is important since our mental growth, well-being, and stability all depend on our family relations. Children brought up in a healthy family will be able to establish better bonds outside their home… A family makes all its members feel safe and connected to one another.

It provides them with the comfort of having people by their side during tough times, helping them to manage and control the stress. A family allows its members to feel safe, protected, accepted and loved despite all shortcomings. Families are the basic units of the society that teach children about relationships.

Now imagine the children who lived and grew up in a cult-like system. Children in the MEK – who are now in their thirties or forties—do not know how to build trust in others.” Parsi relates a parallel situation to MEK. Glenn Stok helped free his sister from Scientology. Stok had an opportunity to reach out to his sister at a family funeral. But MEK families have no way of contacting their loved ones.

And their loved ones have no way of contacting them. “Glenn Stock knows that some destructive cults prevent any possibility for their members and their families to communicate. ‘If you have a family member or a friend in Scientology, or any religious cult, and you’ve lost the ability to communicate, plant that seed and wait for the opportunity to help’, he suggests. ‘Do it before it’s too late, and be ready to do whatever you can when the call for help arrives’.”

++ Yaran Iran Association in Paris reported that a delegation of former MEK members visited the Albanian embassy in Paris to present over 11,000 letters and signatures of the families and friends of MEK members who have been taken hostage by the Rajavi cult. They demanded that the Albanian authorities take action to end MEK human rights abuses and enable the families to make contact with their loved ones in Albania.

Sep 11, 2020

September 15, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

Death of MEK members due to corona-virus

News received from Albania indicates that at least three Iranians were admitted to Mother Teresa Hospital in the Corona ward, who are certainly members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, Rajavi Cult).

According to the latest information, at least one of them has died, and the doctors have been prevented from commenting on the cause of death. But hospital staff have privately said he was a member of the MEK and a resident of the organization’s camp who died due to corona-virus, and they have not yet been allowed the cause of death to be announced.

MEK members in Albania - corona - death

The hospital officials themselves say that this is a matter of great concern because there is no access to the MEK camp and it is not clear what is going on there, and the virus is spreading in a closed environment and in public life. They also expressed concern that many more patients were hospitalized in the camp itself or taken to local hospitals.

Today, the MEK broke the news of the deaths of “Massoud Nasiri” and “Shahin Qassemi””in a hospital in Tirana.”They were about 60 years old and the cause of death was not known, while in the previous procedure they had to give an excuse for their death. No one dies at the age of 60 for no reason.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, the Nejat Society and the grieving families have repeatedly written to the World Health Organization and Albanian officials expressing concern about the possible dangers in the MEK camp and calling for the Albanian authorities to intervene.

It should be noted that according to Albanian health officials, the MEK camp in the country is out of their control and there is no monitoring of it, and there is no information on the implementation of health protocols in a close-knit community.

September 14, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

MEK Families Petition Albanian Embassy in Paris

Presenting over 11,000 letters and signatures of the families and friends of MEK members who have been taken hostage by the Rajavi cult, families demand an end to Human Rights abuse and access to their captured loved ones.

On the afternoon of Thursday September 10, 2020, a delegation of former members and officials of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (Rajavi Cult, MEK), including Alireza Nasrollahi, Mohammad Razaghi, Ghorbanali Hossein Nejad, Ghafoor Fattahian and a group of ex member in France, joined together in the Albanian Embassy in Paris.

Former MEK members in Paris visit Albanian Embassy

The 11,000 signatures and letters directed at the PM, President, and officials of the Albanian government from the families were presented in a book submitted to officials in the Embassy.

Former MEK members in Paris visit Albanian Embassy

Families are being refused entry visa to Albania by the direct request of leaders of Rajavi Cult. This denial of access to family members is a direct abuse of the UN Human Right Charter as well as International Laws. Families demand a stop to such behaviours which only support Modern Slavery, and demand access to their children and loved ones. Some of the families have not met with their loved ones for decades, as Saddam Hussein would not allow access either when the MEK were based in Iraq.

Former MEK members in Paris visit Albanian Embassy

The officials in the Embassy welcomed the delegation, registering their demand and promised that the message and the documents will be presented to the Presidential Office as well as the PM and other relevant officials in Albania.

We will publish in due course a full report and interviews with the media.

Hoping for the day that the families will be allowed to see their children.

–

Text of the letter:

To Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Albanian Government – Demanding MEK members basic human rights

Albanian Embassy in Paris

Former members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and families of MEK members in Albania have gathered in Paris to issue this message, through the Albanian embassy, to Edi Rama and his government.

Four months ago, a petition was signed by over eleven thousand people. The petition asked the Albanian government to let the families of MEK members in Albania have contact with their loved ones.

“For over three decades, the leaders of the MEK have refused to allow the families of these members to have any sort of contact with their loved ones in the MEK camps (in Iraq and in Albania).”

The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic raised the fears of these families about the health and welfare of their loved ones. Many worried they might not be able to have contact with them before it was too late. Elderly parents are desperate for a last, loving conversation with their children.

In spite of this petition and many individual appeals, neither Edi Rama nor any official or authority answered this petition nor addressed the concerns raised in it.

The inference for observers and experts alike is that a foreign terrorist cult, which operates an extra-territorial, extra-judicial camp in your country, is able to impose its will on your country. Otherwise, what objection do you have to allowing relatives to speak with one another. This is a basic human right.

The MEK has a long history of human rights abuses against its own members. The leader Maryam Rajavi presides over a dangerous mind control cult which keeps the members in a state of modern slavery. These members do not have any legal status in your country. They do not have identity documents, residence, work or travel permits. They do not have health insurance and do not receive payment for the work they are obliged to perform for Maryam Rajavi and her benefactors. This state of affairs was exposed by the revelations about the click farm in Manez.

The MEK has a long history of terrorism, violence, murder, crime, money laundry, people trafficking, human rights abuses, deception, duplicity and hypocrisy. Since arriving in Albania, the MEK has shown that it believes it is above the law – a belief bolstered by the lack of state control over the group. MEK appears to be holding the government of Albania to ransom, interfering in the internal affairs and foreign policy of the country with impunity.

With such impunity comes much danger.

The recent scandalous case of Ehsan Bidi – a registered UNHCR political refugee who sought refuge in your country and was issued ten-year residence and work permits – is an example. Bidi was the subject to a conspiracy to have him illegally and forcibly removed from Albania. This came about due to collusion between the criminal MEK, some corrupt security service officials and some corrupt members of parliament. The plot was exposed and thwarted by Bidi’s friends and supporters. But Bidi was right to fear for his life. The suspicious death of Malik Sharai was a reminder to everyone that MEK has killed many of its own members and former members to silence them.

There can be no doubt that those Albanians – lawyers, journalists, academics and others – who helped in this prevent and rescue intervention are true patriots who defended their country’s interests as well as those of a vulnerable individual.

Maryam Rajavi and her followers were expelled from Iraq and have now been expelled from the EU. The assessment of the EU security services is based on fact, not political expediency or corruption. It is difficult to believe therefore that the European Union would welcome the accession of a country which not only hosts such a group but offers it material and political support to continue its nefarious and illegal activities.

In this respect it is clear, Albania must choose – continue supporting the MEK’s criminal and unpatriotic activities or curtail the group so that Albania can be accepted as a member of the EU.

As for the families of MEK members and former members who have exposed and continue to expose the terrible abuses committed by Maryam Rajavi and her gang, we demand that all MEK members:

Have their full human rights observed according to the articles of the UN Declaration of Human Rights
Are given ID papers, residence, work and travel permits and national insurance benefits
Are allowed to freely choose where and how they live and who they associate with
In addition, there has been a blanket ban on issuing visas to families of MEK members – which Saddam also did when MEK were in Iraq. The Interior Ministry of Albania does not have any trace of names of MEK members in your country, yet every Albanian embassy has a list of names of the families who are subject to this ban. The eleven thousand plus signatories to the petition demand that visas are granted to enable families to travel to Albania where they can directly help their loved ones.

We will continue our campaigns and activities as long as these demands are not met.

Signatories:

Attached please find a copy of over 11,000 signatures

Yaran Association, Paris, Translated by Iran Interlink

September 12, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Letter of “mothers, the forgotten victims” to Maria Arena

A letter was sent by Ms Sorayya Abdollahi, Head of the “Mothers, Forgotten Victims”, to the Head of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, Ms Maria Arena.

The text of the letter is as follows:

Ms Maria Arena, Head of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights
Greetings and Regards

We are the mothers and families of those who were deceitfully transferred by the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO) from countries such as Turkey, Pakistan, Kuwait as well as the prisoners of Iraq-Iran war during the era of Saddam Hussein to MEK camp in Iraq. These people were then transferred to Albania in 2016 and settled in an isolated and remote camp.

The families of MEK members based in the camp in Albania, especially the suffering mothers, have been unaware of their children’s condition for some forty years, as MEK members are completely out of touch with the outside world.

The desire of families is to meet their loved ones or at least hear their voices for a few minutes. Now, if we consider these people as prisoners, according to international regulations and laws in any country, visiting the family and meeting the next of kin is the least recognized right. Now, considering this important issue, it is necessary to mention that the members captured in the MEK camp in Albania are deprived of the slightest human rights.

A campaign received more than 11,000 signatures from families and their relatives in Iran and other countries requesting the Albanian government to let them meet with their loved ones in Albania, or at least let them an audio and video communication. The Albanian authorities in support of the MEK did not pay any attention to the families’ demands. The photo and all the necessary documents were also sent to Albanian government officials and international organizations, but so far we, the families, have not received any response.

As a suffering mother, my son Amir Aslan Hassanzadeh has entered this terrorist cult with deception, and on behalf of all mothers and families, I urge you, as a European human rights official, to call on the Albanian government and ask them for what sin mothers are not allowed having any contact with their children.

Sorayya Abdollahi

“Mothers, the Forgotten Victims”

September 9, 2020 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

The Mek and Children – Yaser Ezati

The MEK started training him as a cult member since he was four years old.

“We used to march in front of the portraits of the so-called martyrs of the organization. We were so manipulated that I did not miss my mother at all,”

Yaser Ezati told Mehr News Agency.

Yaser Ezati

His father was a high ranking member of the MEK and his mother was killed in the MEK’s deadly military operation against Iran “Forough Javidan”. Yaser was then sent to Germany together with hundreds of children of the MEK members in 1991. From there, he was transferred to Canada. He lived a challenging life with a number of MEK sympathizers in Germany and Canada.

In just one of his traumatic life experiences with MEK sympathizers, he recalls Forough, the mother of Neda Hassani – the 17-year-old girl that set herself on fire to protest the arrest of Maryam Rajavi by the French Police in June 2003. Yaser lived in Forough’s house in Canada for a period of time. He writes of Forough’s aggressive behavior against him:

“One morning in the winter, I missed the school bus. I got back home to tell Forough that I would take the next bus to school. All of a sudden, she stood up and grabbed me by collar and pulled me on the flour toward the garage where she started beating me. She kicked and bit me so awfully that I was not able to stand on my feet. At the time I was thirteen years old and Forough used to attack me at the slightest pretext.”

Yaser was returned to Camp Ashraf, Iraq a few years later in order to receive systematic organizational and military training. “The MEK forced me to stay in Iraq for seven years, I was kept in solitary confinement for fourteen months before I could leave the group,” he told MNA.

When he first asked to leave the group, they showed him a testament allegedly written by his mother in which it was written: “You should take a gun and follow my path”.

“Whenever I missed my family, may father would kick me in response”, he recounts.

September 9, 2020 0 comments

Albania

MEK was not embraced but imposed on Albania in 2016: Albanian historian

Olsi Jazexhi, an Albanian historian, reveals that the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) was not embraced but imposed on Albania in 2016 by the Obama administration.

“MEK was imposed on Albania in 2016 when the Obama administration demanded the Edi Rama regime to host 3000 foreign fighters in Albania,“Jazexhi tells the Tehran Times.

Jazexhi also says while the majority of the Albanians are Muslim they are “marginalized and demonized by the present American backed regime“in the country.

The following is the text of the interview:

Q: Please tell us what the people in Albania know about MEK?

A: Albanians know that MEK has been a terrorist organization listed by the United States and the European Union until 2012 as such. Albanians are very worried and afraid of their government for hosting MEK. Many have protested in the past and have asked for their expulsion, but the Albanian government has intimidated and scared the citizens not to protest or question their presence. On the other hand, MEK and its supporters try to depict their ex-terrorist group as”the democratic opposition”of the regime in Iran. MEK spends a lot of money to misinform the Albanians and demonize Iran in Albania. In the past months, it has started to radicalize some Albanians, like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra did before and make them join their terrorist activities against Iran.

Q: Why did Albania accept to embrace MEK?

A: Albania is not an independent country. After the Americans instigated a coup in 1998 and brought the Socialist Party to power, Albania lost its independence and democratic freedoms that we enjoyed after the collapse of communism. Since 1998 the elections are stolen, and the U.S. embassy certifies their theft as”democratic.”Even though the majority of the Albanians are Muslim, Albania’s ministers, prime minister, mayor of Tirana, and the president come or have converted themselves into Catholics or Zionist Evangelists. Muslims are marginalized and demonized by the present American backed regime, and Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama has jailed dozens of Muslims for their political beliefs since coming to power.
The Socialist Party of Albania has stolen the last parliamentary elections of 2017 and municipal elections of 2019. The opposition has abandoned the parliament, and the municipal elections were also abandoned. The U.S. government and its ambassador in Tirana, who behaves like a supreme leader, treats Albania worse than they treated Iran in Mossadegh’s time. Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, is like Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua. The Americans know that he is an Islamophobia autocrat and a thief, but they treat him like Franklin Roosevelt treated Somoza.

Since Edi Rama’s government steals the elections, has destroyed the country’s economy, and most of his ministers are corrupt and some face drug smuggling charges, they are indebted to do anything the Americans ask them to.
If they do not obey the orders of the U.S. ambassador, they face jail and persecution. These things can be easily learned if someone reads the Wikileaks cables on Albania or learns the history of Albania’s prosecutor general Adriatic Llalla who dared to reveal the U.S.’s media dictates towards his institution.

Hence MEK was not embraced but imposed on Albania in 2016 when the Obama administration demanded the Edi Rama regime to host 3000 foreign fighters in Albania. Our government took this decision without asking the Albanians or doing any referendum about this dangerous act.

Albanians have protested and demanded that MEK should not be located in our country. However, the Americans and the regime they support did not allow our people to do a referendum and express their democratic will regarding the MEK.

Nowadays, MEK acts like an occupying army in our country. They have taken control of Albania’s foreign policy towards Iran, as well as putting pressure and blackmailing our government to expel Iranian diplomats.
They spread fake news as if the Iranian government does terrorist bombings in the country, discriminate the defectors, arrest, and jail Iranian asylum seekers.
They order our politicians to read their fake news against Iran and prohibit Albanian authorities from inspecting the crimes and illegal activities that Maryam Rajavi and her gang commit inside Manza’s paramilitary camp.

Q: What do you know about the countries or institutes which fund the Rajavi cult?

A: The main supporters of MEK in Albania are the Americans, Emiratis, Saudis, and Israelis. When the MEK army was relocated to Albania in 2016, the Americans, UNHCR, and our government cheated the Albanian public by telling them that MEK is coming for humanitarian reasons in Albania, like many Syrians, Palestinians, Afghanis, etc.

However, after their relocation was secured and Albanians were neutralized from protesting their presence, many American senators and politicians like John McCain, John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani started to come to Tirana and demand the Albanian government to give MEK anti-constitutional and illegal powers to fight against the government of Iran. Since 2017 the Americans, Saudis, Israelis, and Emiratis have sponsored MEK, Albanian security services, the media, and many NGOs to depict MEK as”the Iranian opposition,”which will”bring democracy to Iran.”

The same tactics that were used in Syria to promote Jabhat al-Nusra or ISIS or the Free Syrian Army are used in Albania to show these ex-terrorists ‘ foreign fighters as”freedom-loving democrats.”If until 2017, Albanian security services and anti-terror police depicted MEK as a dangerous terrorist organization with power and possibilities to commit terrorist acts and killings, after 2018, our security agencies have been forced to side with MEK and its illegal activities.

Q: Why did the U.S. State Department formally remove MEK from its list of terrorist organizations while it has been involved in assassinating many Iranians?

A: The Americans have a long history of supporting terrorist organizations for their imperialist interests. They supported and created al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, the Free Syrian Army, and many other terrorist organizations in the past. After the destruction of Syria, Libya, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, etc., the next war of the Americans and Israel is against Turkey and Iran, who are the last remaining pillars of resistance against the Evangelical-Zionist imperialism in the Middle East (West Asia). The Americans support MEK like they support the Gulenist movement against Turkey. These organizations are the best terrorist tool they have to destabilize Turkey and Iran. Like Osama Bin Laden, they are the”good terrorists”of the West during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Q: What methods do the Rajavi cult use for spreading fake news?

A: The Rajavi gang uses fake news in many ways. They are masters of lies and deception. They use the internet a lot, twitter, fake websites, publication, and bribes. When I visited the European Parliament in 2018 to give my testimony about MEK, many European MPs showed us how one country was granting them access inside the EU institutions where they were spreading lies against Iran on daily bases (and) were trying to cheat European MPs.

In Albania, they use a lot of money to propagate anti-Iran news. They pay journalists, force media owners to spread their fake news about Iran, and pay many civil society organizations to promote their fake stories.

Top Albanian politicians like Ilir Meta, the President, Edi Rama, the prime minister, Lulzim Basha, the leader of the opposition, who have ongoing corruption court cases and live with the fear of going to jail, are approached by MEK who promises them favors with the U.S. State Department if they visit the MEK camp and read MEK-made anti-Iran declarations. They use blackmail too. Some TV owners and journalists who have published news about MEK crimes in Albania have been approached by MEK commanders who have blackmailed them to removing their news, or otherwise, MEK has claimed that they will face attacks by the Americans.

MEK has produced a number of fake news in the past years, which have been verified by me and my friend Gjergji Thanasi as fake. They claimed in 2018 that Iran planned a terrorist attack in Albania, a fact that we have proven to the media to be totally fake. However, their fake articles are later taken by major U.S. news outlets, like Fox News or Washington Times, and are sold to the world as true.

Q: How do they deal with their formal members as there are many reports indicating pressure on members to crack down on any dissent?

A: MEK is a paper tiger organization. Most MEK soldiers who live inside the Manza Camp hate Maryam Rajavi and would like to defect. However, they are not allowed to defect and abandon terrorism by MEK and the Albanian government.

If a MEK soldier can escape Manza’s paramilitary camp, which is guarded like a prison by armed Albanian security police and MEK guards, the defector will have a very difficult life in Albania. Albanian anti-terror police will blackmail them and ask them to go back to Maryam Rajavi. The government will not give them a work permit. At the same time, MEK will accuse them of Iranian agents and will ask the government to jail the defector.

MEK soldiers have no travel documents or money to smuggle themselves into Europe. As a result, they will face starvation and slow death if they decide to abandon war and live in peace. The UNHCR, which has a duty to protect these refugees, is afraid of the Americans to do her work. MEK has extraterritorial powers in Albania. If MEK commanders torture, imprison, or even kill the defectors, the Albanian police have no power and are afraid to enter the camp and implement the law.

https://dlb.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/Bidi_Ehsan_Greece_Border_1.mp4

One example of the tragedy of the defectors is the story of Ehsan Bidi. He was proclaimed an Iranian agent by Maryam Rajavi for opposing her crimes. MEK paid many media to demonize him as an Iranian agent. They pushed Albanian authorities to remove his UNHCR granted asylum in 2019 and imprisoned him for one year on orders of Maryam Rajavi. After spending one year in jail, on orders or bribes by MEK, Albanian police illegally threw him to the Greek border where he might have been killed should not, we, a group of Albanian journalists and MPs, have protested in Tirana against his illegal expulsion.

Maryam Rajavi would love to kill her defectors in Albania. However, she is not doing that for the time being since she is afraid of an Albanian and European backlash, which would alert the European public opinion about the monstrous nature of the Rajavi cult.

For the time being, Maryam Rajavi is bribing the Albanian government to destroy her opposition in Albania by poverty, imprisonment, and character assassination. Rajavi needs to fight and destroy the defectors who denounce war and terrorism and have escaped the MEK camp since their defection threatens MEK’s future. If Albania can restore its authority over the MEK Camp, many defectors will escape and denounce the crimes that happen inside this death cult.

Q: What do you think about double standards by Western countries, including the U.S. and some European states, which call resistance groups in West Asia”terrorists”while defend crimes committed by Israel and MEK?

A: The answer to this was given by your Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, on his twitter account a few days ago: Mr. Zarif said:

Thanks to @SecPompeo, we now know the country’s criteria to be removed from—or included in—State Dept’s terror list:

Relations with Israel.

Nowadays, the West is hostage to Israel and its fanatical American Evangelic narrative as”God’s chosen people.”Evangelical Zionism has made the West to descend back to Medieval Ages. The U.S. government has a medieval mindset. This is the reason why they support medieval regimes like Israel or psychopathic death cults like the MEK.

Q: As an Albanian, what can you say to the Iranian public about the presence of MEK in Albania?

A: I want to tell the freedom-loving people of Iran that we, the people of Albania, love Iran. Iran is a very important country in the Islamic world that supports Palestine.

We share the same culture and history with Iran. We are a Muslim majority country which has inherited many Iranian words and culture. Iranian culture has been very instrumental in enlightening the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans. I want to apologize to Iran’s wonderful people for having my country turned into a base for an anti-Iran terrorist cult. Iran has done no harm to Albania to get the MEK threat from us. I hope the Iranians understand that we do not like MEK. MEK threatened the national security of Albania and was imposed on Albania by the Americans. MEK has taken extra-national powers in our country, and it treats Albania as an occupied territory.

Since their coming, MEK has endangered the security, sovereignty, and democracy of Albania. Many European neighbors see Albania with fear because of MEK. MEK has blackmailed many journalists, media, and politicians into supporting their illegal activities. Albania, Iran, and our European allies and partners should work together to save Albania and Europe from the threat of terrorism and extremist organizations. MEK must be disbanded, deradicalized, and forced to accept peace, democracy, and international law.

By Reza Moshfegh

September 9, 2020 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO terrorist leader threatens Albanian journalists

When Western countries are harboring ‘useful’ terrorist groups, they generally want them to be low profile, but the US is the exception

Albanian journo challenges MKO ringleader to open debate, vows to keep exposing terrorists

[Editor’s Note: These two Albanian journalists writing about MKO, when it is under the full protection of the US and NATO, is a ballsy thing to do. They could be VT guys covering and saying what no one else will. We salute Olsi Jazexhi and Gjergji Thanasi.
When Western countries are harboring ‘useful’ terrorist groups, they generally want them to be low profile. But the US is the exception, as Trump buddy Rudy Giuliani has been a big promoter of the group.
US and Western media give them a free pass, so it was a surprise to see these two Albanians taking MKO on in a country where you can get someone killed for a very reasonable price.

I was surprised to see him claim that the MKO forces in the country outnumber the army and police. Wikipedia seems to disagree with about 6,000 regular and 5000 reserves, not counting the police.

But the bottom line here could be said that this long love affair the US has had with the MKO terror group, and never having been sanctioned for it formally or even in the media, might have led to the flood of proxy terror wars we see going on.
It reminds me of my mother, after spanking me, educating me as to why…”Give a kid an inch and they will take a mile”. That was a bit over my head at the time, but it was not a good time to argue or ask questions, or I would get a ’round two’ for being ‘sassy’… Jim W. Dean ]

Olsi Jazexhi (R) listens to a handler during a tour of a mosque in Aksu city, in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), Aug. 21, 2019

An Albanian journalist, committed to exposing the criminal activities of the anti-Iran Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) terror group, responds to the threats he has received from the group’s ringleader, Mariam Rajavi.

“I really want to have an open debate with you,” Olsi Jazexhi told Rajavi in a video posted on YouTube on Monday.

He said he had made the video after the MKO ringleader finally dared to verbalize threats against him and Gjergji Thanasi, a similarly outspoken Albanian journalist, through two of the group’s “commanders.” The terrorist top brass conveyed the threats in two articles that have appeared on MKO-related websites.

Jezexhi expressed surprise that the ringleader had chosen to target him in this fashion this time around after three years of “attacking me from behind” by pressuring him through the Albanian government and his employer.
“I’m very happy that you have come out with the face of your commanders to attack me,” he said, adding that the covert attacks had “caused so many troubles for my life, and destroyed it economically.”
‘Never to be silenced’
The journalist, however, pledged that he would not stop probing the group and revealing information about it.
“I want to tell you, Mariam Rajavi, that Albania is a democratic state, and we are a liberal democracy, where we have freedom of speech,” he said.

“We’re never going to be silenced. We’re going to investigate and expose to the international and Albanian community, the crimes and the illegal things that you’re doing in my country,” Jezexhi said.

The MKO has a squalid history of assassinations and bombings against the Iranian government and nation. It notoriously sided with Saddam Hussein during the former Iraqi dictator’s 1980-88 war on Iran.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist assaults since the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to the MKO’s acts of terror.

Western countries, topped by the United States, have, nevertheless, taken the group out of their terror blacklists.
Currently based in Albania, the group throws lavish conferences every year in Paris, with certain American, Western, and Saudi officials as its guests of honor. These include former US national security advisor John Bolton, US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, and former Saudi Arabian spy chief, Prince Turki Al Faisal.

The MKO was relocated from Iraq, where it used to enjoy the US’s protection, to Albania in 2016, where it was allowed by Tirana to set up a paramilitary camp.

Jezexhi said since then, the cult’s membership has grown from some 3,000 to around 7,000, identifying himself as one of the first public speakers in Albania to ever ask his government not to bring in the terrorists.

‘Good terrorists, standing army’

Jezexhi said the group has attained the “good and useful terrorist” status because of the support it gets from the US, the NATO military alliance and Israel, as well as the money it receives from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Mossad admits cooperating with MKO over anti-Iran plot

This, he added, was because “they’re being kept as a standing army, ready to be used and deployed at any moment…whenever the United States and Israel wants them to.”

“NATO needs to use [them] in the future war that the Americans and Israel plan to wage against Iran,” the journalist said.

In Albania, the MKO now outnumber even the army and the police, the number of whose overall forces stands at some 6,000.

The MKO terrorists have told the people in Albania that they have come there “on humanitarian visas” while their status does not differ at all from those returning from fighting alongside Takfiri terrorist groups such as Daesh, al-Nusra Front, or Tahrir al-Sham against the Syrian government and people.

Jezexhi said Balkan countries like Albania are mandated to prosecute those who used to engage in fighting abroad after their return, and have jailed and charged hundreds of the Takfiri returnees as a result of the imperative.

“However, in the case of Albania and since the United States is at war with Iran and Israel as well [is at war with Iran], the Albania-based Mujahedin are pampered by the Americans and the Albanian government,” he noted.

By: Jim W. Dean, Managing Editor – veteranstoday

Jim W. Dean, Managing Editor
Managing Editor
Jim W. Dean is Managing Editor of Veterans Today involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews.

September 8, 2020 0 comments