A true indication of the dire state of Albania’s politics, and a red line for the EU was on display in the UN Human Rights Council this week; an international forum in which Albania’s small voice would not normally be expected to cause controversy. Yet as Iran criticised Javaid Rehman UN Special Rapporteur’s comments on human rights in Iran, Dr Illir Nezaj from the Albanian embassy in Geneva found himself reading a prepared statement defending the MEK presence in his country.
In this speech, Nezaj claims ‘MEK is not a terrorist organization’. That will be news to the many thousands of victims of MEK terrorism in Iran, Iraq and beyond. Delighted that their man has done his job, the MEK lost no time in spreading this around social media, using the fake Heshmat Alavi account to disseminate the news. (Apparently, the MEK have misplaced their English-speaking team since the translation is full of spelling and grammar errors.)
However, critics of the MEK have welcomed the speech as it acknowledges once and for all in an international arena, that the MEK are a problem for Albania. Historian and activist Olsi Jazexhi Tweeted:
“If MEK is not a terrorist organization why does it run a paramilitary camp in #Albania? Why its members are kept in isolation? Why #MEK is fighting its defectors in Tirana? Why #MEK is smuggling people like #HadiSaniKhani into Europe? Why MEK is attacking foreign and local media?”
If MEK is not a terrorist organization why does it run a paramilitary camp in #Albania? Why its members are kept in isolation? Why #MEK is fighting its defectors in Tirana? Why #MEK is smuggling people like #HadiSaniKhani into Europe? Why MEK is attacking foreign and local media?
— Olsi Jazexhi (@OlsiJ) March 9, 2021
Contrary to what Nezai claims, the MEK was expelled by Iraq’s government as a terrorist entity which belonged to Saddam Hussein’s regime. They arrived in Albania as a foreign terrorist entity. They remain a terrorist entity – the MEK was not disbanded or deradicalized as had been the plan. MEK leader Maryam Rajavi was expelled from the EU in 2018 due to security concerns after a failed false flag bomb plot was found to have involved MEK sympathisers in Belgium.
Rajavi is now in Tirana heading the nefarious, criminal activities of the MEK, including people trafficking. Anne Khodabandeh, long time MEK critic, Tweeted:
“Why are European security agencies investigating the troubling disappearance of former MEK member Hadi Sani Khani from Albania? He was trafficked by MEK into France and disappeared. What have MEK done with him? We expect full cooperation from Albanian authorities in this case.”
Why are European security agencies investigating the troubling disappearance of former MEK member Hadi Sani Khani from Albania? He was trafficked by MEK into France and disappeared. What have MEK done with him?
We expect full cooperation from Albanian authorities in this case.
— Anne Khodabandeh (@AnneKhodabandeh) March 12, 2021
Khodabandeh also questioned MEK impunity in Albania, Tweeting:
“Understand that threatening violent regime change against another country is illegal under Albanian law. What do you think the MEK have been doing since they arrived in your country? https://exit.al/en/2017/04/17/senator-mccain-meets-mek-in-albania/”
Understand that threatening violent regime change against another country is illegal under Albanian law.
What do you think the MEK have been doing since they arrived in your country?https://t.co/A89pySwLkz
— Anne Khodabandeh (@AnneKhodabandeh) March 12, 2021
The MEK presence in Albania is controversial. It will certainly prevent Albania’s accession to the EU; nobody throws rubbish out only to open the back door and take it back in again! There are plenty of solutions to this conundrum. But none of them will be found without courage and honesty. Let’s see where Albania’s path takes it in the next weeks.