Pooran Navai was a young girl when she joined the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), in the early years after the Iranian revolution.
At the time, the inclination of young people to the MEK and other groups was somehow normal. The anti-American and anti-imperialist slogans of the group, which was lavishly used in the publications of the group, and the history of their struggles during the Shah’s time, are considered as factors to gain the trust of the youth.
Pooran was one of those youths who got caught in the MEK, which is now known as a cult. She has been in the MEK for over 4 decades and her family who live in Azerbaijan, in north-west of Iran have been longing to visit or contact her.
Pouran Navai is near 60 years old now. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer. The MEK leaders did not allow her family to visit her even in those hard days.
Her brother, Lider Navai, who is a university professor is a member of Nejat Society. As a representative of his family, he regularly visits Nejat Society, writes letters to the Albanian government and international human rights bodies asking them to aid him visit his sister freely.
“Over the past years, I have spoken to my sister, Pooran once or twice on the phone,” he told Nejat Society. “She said she had cancer. From the way she spoke, I understood that she was very depressed and under the control of the cult commanders.”
Lider was able to find out that his sick sister was under supervision. “While talking on the phone, I realized that someone else is with her and she controls my sister and dictates to her what to say and what not to say,” he recalls. “Therefore, I understood that according to the leaders of the MEK, respecting the privacy of the members has no meaning.”
“When my sister joined this group, she did not know the real content of the ideology ruling the group. She was a healthy, passionate and motivated woman. Now, a sick and depressed woman is left of that person who is almost 60 years old.”
In 2018, Lider Navai traveled to France. He tried to visit his sister whose cancer treatment had just ended. He had previously made an appointment but the MEK leaders canceled the visit in the last moment.
Lider has written several letters addressing his beloved sister. He has published the letters on Nejat Society website and the social media in the hope that Pooran will read the letters someday.
“For years now, I have been dreaming the day that I will see you in the warm center of the family and we will be together in hardships and joys as before,” he writes in his latest letter to Pooran. “The anti-human act of the Cult of Rajavi in keeping men and women celibate in closed camps and without communication with the outside world, both in Iraq and now in Albania, shows a cult-like structure that is far from any human rights criteria.”
“From the point of view of human rights, your existence has no value for Rajavi. The leaders of this cult use the members caught in it only as a human shield in order to achieve their sinister objectives and anti-human crimes.”
Pooran Navai is in Camp Ashraf 3 in Manez, Albania. Her mother died a few years ago while she was expecting her return to her family and hometown.