Albania

SFF interviews an MKO survivor in Albania

Sahar Family Foundation interview with Manouchehr Abdi who has recently left the Cult of Rajavi in Tirana, Albania. The interview has been partly translated.

SFF: Mr. Abdi, Thank you for your time. Please introduce yourself.

Manouchehr Abdi: I’m Manouchehr Abdi. I was born in 1341, I’m married and have a daughter. I spent 14 years of my life in the Cult of Rajavi. When I was in Tehran I wanted to immigrate to abroad. My friends told me about the MKO. They said that the organization was in Iraq and would help me go to Europe. Once I joined the MKO in Iraq, I had no way out any more […] When we were relocated in Albania I could manage to contact my family by the help of one of the defectors of the group but the group authorities got to know, so, they punished me. I was suppressed because according to the MKO rules, contacting your family is a crime […]

SFF: when you were in Iraq, did you know about the families who were picketing in front of the gates of camp Liberty or Camp Ashraf? What was the group’s reaction? How did you feel at the time?

M.A: I remember those days. The group authorities used to label the families as agents of Iranian Intelligence and mercenaries. They made the residents throw rocks against the families and insult them. Everyone who did not obey their order, would be punished in the meetings. Members were really upset that they had to throw rocks at a group of old men and women or any other person who had come to visit their beloveds […]

SFF: after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and the disarmament of the organization by the US military, and finally the departure of the group from Iraq that resulted in losing the Iranian border, how do the group authorities maintain the hope of regime change in the minds of members?

M.A.: the group authorities, particularly the leader told members: “the army of uprising is still alive in Iran and you are the officers of this army! Your soldiers are those youngsters of revolt who are awaiting a spark. The moment the uprising occurs we will get on the plane to reach Iran in order to organize the uprising.”

SFF: what prohibits people from leaving the group? How many people do you think have decided to stay in the group with their own free will?

M.A.: Members do not dare to leave the group because they have been under the most horrible mind-control system for years. Once we have been resettled in Albania, they tried to frighten us about the outside world […] I think those who are still in the MKO think that they are under the arrest warrant of the Interpol or the Islamic Republic. Some others who are elderlies suppose that they are too old to leave the group and to begin a new life […]

SFF: what are the main questions in the minds of the group’s members? Do the authorities answer their questions?

M.A.: Their main questions are these ones: Now that we are disarmed and far from Iranian border, what are we doing here? Why are we staying here far from Iraq- that once it was the center of struggle as you said. Of course, whenever you ask these questions you are punished by the authorities. Another taboo was to ask about the whereabouts of Massoud Rajavi. No body dared to ask.

SFF: what is the approach of the authorities towards those who want to leave the group in Tirana?

M.A.: The conditions for defectors of the group in Tirana is very tragic. Having had clandestine agreements with the UNHCR, the group enslaves members by confiscating the monthly payments that the UN pays to political refugees despite the fact that a political refugee can be free in the country where he is granted refuge […]

If you want to leave the group, you will endure the most severe brainwashing sessions. If you don’t change your mind you will be kept in solitary confinement for a month. During this one month they will use various mental tortures in order to keep you in the group.

SFF: what is your idea about Maryam Rajavi’s recent trips to Albania? What do members think about her recent visits with American warmongers who supported ISIS?

M.A.: Maryam Rajavi’s trips to Albania are due to recent increasing rise in the process of defection from the group. In addition, she has to explain about the Americans who visit the group in Albania. Members wonder how the group spends millions of dollars to invite and receive the Americans in Albania while they are not given the least money for their basic needs like medicine or health-care […]

SFF: How do you see the current and the future situation of the group?

M.A.: The main problem of the MKO is the increase in defections. The authorities have to spend a lot of energy to prevent members from leaving. The organization is losing its capacity, it is expired, and no future is seen for it except its collapse.

SFF: Are the people of Albania concerned about the presence of the MKO in their territory? What is their reaction?

M.A.: In the neighborhood of the group’s base in Tirana, all neighbors were unhappy. They were concerned as if we were members of ISIS. […]

SFF: how do the HCR and the Albanian Interior Ministry deal with the case of defectors of theMKO?

M.A: The HCR and the government of Albania do not admit any responsibility regarding the problems of the defectors. The MKO has deals with them. They have been paid heavy bribes.

SFF: what is your message for families of MKO hostages, for other defectors and for those who are still imprisoned in the group?

M.A: I ask the families of the cult hostages not to retreat. They should continue their efforts in the international community to pressure the group, to break the bars around their children. I also tell the rank and file inside the cult — If they could hear me. I’d like to tell them that I was like them, at first. I even couldn’t imagine that I would survive outside the group, but now I’m here, I’m free. That’s enough for me. I just want to tell them: This organization is a liar. It’s unjust and hypocrite. Don’t waist life for nothing!

SFF:” Thanks for your time. We hope prosperity and success for you and all survivors of the cult of Rajavi. We also hope freedom and salvation for all those who are taken as hostages in the cult.

M.A: I do appreciate you and Sahar Family Foundation for the opportunity you gave me to reveal a very small part of atrocities of the cult of Rajavi. […] It was just a slight part of the crimes the MKO committed. The MKO is the biggest mafia of this century.

Translated by Nejat Society

September 6, 2017 0 comment

Albania

Meeting with an official in the Albanian UNHCR (RAMSA)

In a meeting between the UNHCR in Tirana – Refugee and Migrant Services in Albania – and Sahar Family Foundation, an official spoke about the situation of the families of members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK aka Rajavi cult) and the former members of the group. He told Sahar that there are currently around 230 MEK members who wish to separate from the organization in Tirana. Some of them are kept in a location in the Port of Dorsa in Albania by the MEK.

These individuals, despite Maryam Rajavi’s threats and promises, refuse to stay with the cult under any circumstances and are determined to gain their freedom no matter what the cost. Maryam Rajavi has threatened that they will not get any allowances once they leave. Clearly the cult wishes to keep them from having any contact, even visual contact, with the current members because it is feared their presence in Tirana living outside the organization would negatively affect the remaining members, leading to more disaffection.

In the meeting, Sahar explained to the official that there are currently some 240 individuals living outside the group for whom the MEK had previously made an agreement with the UNHCR to distribute their allowances. However, some time ago the cult started to cut this allowance for some individuals using various excuses. Now the MEK has told all these individuals that it will no longer pay anything to anyone anymore. This move has provoked strong objections and complaints among the former members. It has also flagged up serious concerns in the government and among the citizens of Tirana who are sensitive to the bizarre behaviour of this group.

The official explained that RAMSA will hold an urgent meeting this month to deal with the situation of the former members and said he was hopeful that positive decisions would be made to support those who had left the MEK in Tirana. The MEK had already informed RAMSA that they will not pay anything to those who have left the organization.

The other matter discussed, which they seemingly knew about, was that some current members of the group, although they have signed loyalty agreements to stay with the MEK, have insisted that they will leave the group if there is any talk about moving to another isolated location similar to Ashraf Garrison in Iraq. The official confessed that the MEK is experiencing a dreadful situation in Tirana and that conditions are getting worse day by day and are becoming unbearable for the members.

Accepting the risk of not being able to return to Paris, Maryam Rajavi made her second trip to Albania to sort out the catastrophic situation of the group and ease the internal tensions and persuade people to move to the remote base.

Everyone who is even slightly familiar with the situation of the Rajavi cult in Albania agrees that the MEK is very rapidly falling apart. Many have witnessed that during the past year more deleterious developments have occurred inside the group than in all those years in Iraq, and many believe that this is due to the efforts made by the families and the former members.

Reports indicate that the recent meeting between Maryam Rajavi and the American senators in Tirana took place because of the recent unexpected deterioration of the organization’s situation in Albania. And that it was also due to pressure from the Albanian government which has complained that the promises made by America previously had not been fulfilled. It is reported that the Senators’ meeting was a kind of impeachment of Maryam Rajavi for not controlling the members and for allowing concerns to be raised throughout Albania.

September 5, 2017 0 comment

Letter of the families of MEK members residing in Albania

To the UNHCR, and the Albanian Ministry of the Interior

With regards

As you are aware, we have waited for many years for the opportunity to visit our loved ones who are held captive inside the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, Rajavi cult). We have communicated many, many times with various national and international organizations. But so far, we have had not received any reply indicating that we do have the right to meet with our relatives. Many fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who desired to visit their loved ones have passed away without being able to do so.

With reference to the abusive nature of the Rajavi cult, as evidenced by many former members, and the fact that the members are subject to psychological manipulation, we urge you to respect our basic humanitarian rights and let us visit our loved ones. We also urge you to let our loved ones, held captive inside the cult, know about and benefit from their international and financial rights. You already know that these individuals, who are victims of a destructive mind-control cult, are deprived of their basic rights.

Over the past few years, many members of the Rajavi cult have been able to break through the mental as well as physical boundaries and step back into the normal world and are now living freely in Iran or other countries. These individuals have exposed the brutal relationship inside the cult and have met with international bodies and have written to the press and been active on the internet to talk about this.

This includes members of the Rajavi cult who had been sent into Iran to conduct violent terrorist operations but who changed their minds after being arrested and learned about the nature of their deeds. They have spoken out against the MEK and condemned the group for brainwashing its followers in order to get them to commit crimes. These former members enjoyed amnesty afterwards and went back to normal life.

Officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have stated on many occasions that: “those who did not participate in armed struggle and did not commit murder can freely come back to Iran provided they have rejected the cult”. Over the years, many individuals have left the group and returned to Iran and resumed a normal life and were not prosecuted unless they had committed ordinary small offenses.

The attitude of the Islamic Republic towards the MEK members is that they have been deceived by the cult leaders and are therefore themselves victims, needing help from outside. According to Islamic teachings they must be treated in such a way that they are able to return to normal life with their families.

We, the families of the members captured mentally and physically inside the Rajavi cult, urge you prepare the grounds for our loved ones to be able to have access to their families and to the outside world and to be able to know what is going on in the world and decide freely what they would like to do and to choose their own futures.

Kind Regards,

Families of MEK members

August 29, 2017 0 comment

Albania Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Meeting an official in the Albanian Ministry of Internal Affairs

An official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tirana meeting with Sahar Family Foundation spoke about the situation of the families of members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) and the former members of the group. He said that currently there are around 240 separated MEK members living outside the organization in Tirana. They are known persons and are in contact with the Ministry and the Police. Since their number is growing rapidly there is growing concern in the current Albanian administration what to do with them.

He said that Albania had been very much against the MEK being transferred from Iraq to Albania as the government was aware that no other country would accept them. At that time, the US administration gave guarantees that their presence in Albania would not cause any problems or difficulties whatsoever. However, it seems that there is now trouble on the way.

This official stated that the MEK has prepared a facility outside Tirana with high walls and strong gates and has urged government officials seven or eight times to move all the members there. This has been rejected. The organization must understand that the situation it imposed on members in Iraq cannot be restored in this country and indeed international observers are quite worried about the internal relations of the group and are eager to learn more about this.

The official emphasized that so far, 15 letters from the families who traveled to Albania to visit their loved ones inside the organization have been delivered to them. But in all these cases the MEK replied that the individuals do not wish to receive the letters. This matter of course raises some concern about what is going on inside the group.

He said that the authorities know the group has adopted a hostile attitude towards the families trying to visit their loved ones inside the group and he has read reports by the police in this regard. He mentioned that the MEK leaders appear to be trying to establish a government-like system, similar to what they practiced in Iraq, which is not acceptable.

The official expressed his hope that the MEK would arrange appointments for the members to visit with their families. He also stated that it was possible that the organization would move to the newly prepared facilities within months, but under conditions that the government has outlined. Their unnatural presence inside the city has raised some trepidation amongst the citizens.

About those former members who tried to leave the country illegally and are now held in custody in neighboring countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, he expressed his regret and said that unfortunately it is very difficult to help them since they have committed offenses.

August 27, 2017 0 comment

Albania

Albania is virtually in a state of war with Iran and this is a very serious thing

Four US senators came to Tirana this afternoon and met with Maryam Rajavi in her self-styled capacity as the exiled President of Iran and leader of the political-military movement for overthrowing the regime in Iran called the Iranian People’s Mojahedin (MEK) organization. They talked with her as though she were the exiled head of the Iranian state and so she spoke to them. The senators were honored by Rajavi’s presidential guard of honor at her headquarters in Kashar, near the city of Tirana.

It is not the first time that this has happened. In April, Senator McCain has done the same thing. These visits by American senators to Kashar are sponsored by Saudi Arabia, which finances the MEK’s activity, due to its rivalry with Iran in the Persian Gulf.

The US Senators’ visit to Albania took place after the recent tensions in US-Iran relations due to the sanctions that the American Congress imposed on Iran, repudiating the Obama administration’s agreement with the country. Iran’s response was something that should bother Albania too and should have made President Meta hastily summon the National Security Council meeting, making Prime Minister Rama cut short his break.

Iran’s Parliament, at the request of the President, decided to officially order Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to undertake anti-terrorist operations against subversive forces operating abroad for the overthrow of the regime in Iran, under the sponsorship of enemies of the Islamic Republic. The decision primarily targets the Iranian embryo-led government led by Madam Rajavi, and the military arm of this so-called government, the MEK.

This means that Albania, which harbors them, is now officially the target for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard operations – one of the most specialized and dangerous forces in the world for covert activity.

The very way in which the decision was made by the highest state authorities in Iran presents an ultimatum for Albania in particular to remove the MEK’s political-military organization and the Iranian government in exile from its territory.

When a country provides refuge to members of a subversive organization, such as the MEK, it is for them to formally vow that they will cease their political-military activity in the territory of the host country against their state.

As a minimum this should have been enforced by the Albanian government when it agreed last year to accommodate all the members of the MEK (about 5000 people) in its territory. Unlike what the US agreement was in 2012, which was that our country would host a number of Mojahedin members according to the quota that would be in accord with their proportional division among NATO countries. This was a lie by State Department bureaucrats paid by the Saudi lobby, who had made plans to host all the Iranian Mojahedin in Albania together with the government in exile of their leader, Ms Rajavi.

The Iranian Mojahedin have not only not made formal commitments that they will cease their political-military activity while residing in Albania, but the Albanian government, in a secret agreement with their leader Rajavi, has undertaken to allow them to use Albania as a base for continuing their political-military activity against the government of Iran.

It is a fact that the agreement with which the Albanian government has accepted its obligations to give the Iranian Mojahedin refuge and what these obligations it has undertaken are have not been made public. But from the activity undertaken by Mrs. Rajavi in Albania it is understood what this agreement contains. Since March of this year, Maryam Rajavi, self-proclaimed Iranian President-in-Exile, who is at the same time leader of a political-military organization called the Iranian People’s Mojahedin, is using Albania as the center of her political activity. Until March, Mrs Rajavi conducted her business in France where she has asylum. But France has already stopped her political activity against Iran in its territory.

There is a rule known in international affairs. When a state hosts a political-military organization in its territory that acts for the forcible overthrow of the government in another state, this second state has the right to react by committing violent attacks on the territory of the first state. Albania is in this position in relation to Iran. Albania and Iran have diplomatic relations and in the basic documents describing bilateral relations the two countries have agreed not to harm each other. Iran has adhered to this pledge. Albania has not.

It is foolish to take this situation lightly, thinking that Iran will not dare to launch attacks on Albania because it is frightened of US punishment or because it is a member of NATO. First of all, no American President will undertake punitive military against Iran because the country has undertaken covert terrorist actions in Albania. Iran will not officially assert these rights, but even if its authorship is implied, the original fault will remain with Albania, which has acted in opposition to international law regarding the housing of political immigrants.

At this time, when there is ever greater danger of an outbreak of war between the US and North Korea, a new front against Iran cannot be opened. And Iran will take advantage of this situation to act freely against the country that harbors its main internal enemies. It would suffice for Iran to launch 50 fanatical suicide bombers to turn Albania into a chaotic bloody land. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard can mobilize entire divisions with fanatical suicide bombers. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has its own practice of preparing commandos that speak the language and understand the behavior of countries posing a threat to Iran for possible punitive actions against them.

So, for several years, Iran has been intensively preparing for suicide operations using commandos who know the Albanian language as well as the culture of our country. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has very good historical links with Balkan and Russian secret services. It is not difficult for Iran to bring its operatives to Albania. Albania is effectively in a state of war with Iran and this is something that should be taken very seriously. Above all because the Albanian government has violated the laws in force in Albania by allowing an organization that declares the violent overthrow of Tehran’s regime to make a base in our country. This in turn legitimizes Iran to act against our country.

By Kastriot Myftaraj, Gazeta Impakt,

August 16, 2017 0 comment

Albania

4 people left the MEK in Albania

Three days after the Mujahedin-e Khalq Cult’s propaganda show in France, two members left the group in Albania each with some 39 years of membership in the group.

Siavosh Seifi and Mahmoud Mambini are two individuals who managed to leave the group in Tirana,Albania.

Another two MKO members; Pouria Nouri and Jaafar Aghai, also have left last week, reports say.

Iran Interlink weekly Digest reports the defection of these members asserting:

There are currently fewer than 2100 MEK members in Albania. The disintegration of the group is gaining momentum and formers in Albania predict it will be only a matter of weeks before this figure reaches less than 2000. The acceleration in defections is attributed to ‘the Villepinte effect’. That is, lavish and ostentatious spending while the members in Albania don’t have enough to eat.

Another cause has been Maryam Rajavi’s presentation of the MEK’s precious book of anti-Imperialist martyrs to Senator John McCain as a gift.

The defectors say, ‘we were fooled by Massoud Rajavi all these years but Maryam can’t even do that and only wants to party and show off’.

July 30, 2017 0 comment

Albania

Albanian paper covered the article of Sahar website

The latest article written and published by the Sahar Family Foundation titled

‘For the attention of former MEK members in Albania: What is to be done? Where does the UNHCR refugee allowance of individual MEK members go?’

was fully translated and published in the Albanian paper GAZETA IMPAKT under the title of

‘Çfarë duhet bërë me Muxhahedinët në Shqipëri? Ku shkon ndihma financiare për refugjatët e UNHCR-së për anëtarët individualë të “MEK-ut?’

A link to the above mentioned coverage can be reached below:

Çfarë duhet bërë me Muxhahedinët në Shqipëri?[http://gazetaimpakt.com/cfare-duhet-bere-muxhahedinet-ne-shqiperi/ ]

The original English text is shown in the link below:

What is to be done?

June 6, 2017 0 comment

Albania

Turning Albania to a centre for ISIS/Mojahedin Khalq

Jihad 2.0: the Making of the Next Nightmare

You are about to enter the ultimate minefield.

Let’s start with 28 EU leaders discussing the Western Balkans at a recent summit and blaming – what else – “Russian aggression” in the EU’s backyard.

Cue to a Montenegro prosecutor raging that “Russian state bodies” staged a coup attempt during the October 2016 elections to stop the country from joining NATO.

And cue to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker warning that Donald Trump’s anti-EU rhetoric could lead to war in the Balkans. Juncker, condescending as ever, maintains that, “If we leave them to themselves — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, Macedonia, Albania, all of these countries — we will have a war again.”

The Balkans may be about to explode – all over again. Yet with a twist; unlike 1999, NATO won’t get away with bombing a defenseless Belgrade for 78 days. A new generation of Russian missiles would easily prevent it.

The 1999 tragedy in the Balkans was essentially stirred up by fake massacres in Kosovo set up by the BND – German intelligence — using local Albanians and BND agent provocateurs, who shot both sides to stir up a war and break up Yugoslavia.

All Eyes on Albania

What’s evolving at the current geopolitical juncture is even murkier.

The usual suspects do what they usually do; blame Russia, and damn any evidence.

So let a knowledgeable insider, Dr. Olsi Jazexhi, director of the Free Media Institute in Tirana, Albania, be our guide.

As Dr. Jazexhi explains, “after Brennan left Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, a close friend of George Soros, gathered all Albanian political parties in Macedonia and ordered them to support Zoran Zaev against Nikola Gruevski. Gruevski is seen as filo-Russian and anti-NATO, while Zaev is a lapdog of Soros. As a result, Gruevski was boycotted by Albanians and Zaev had their support to form a government. The promise of Zaev to Albanians is that Macedonia will adapt Albanian as an official language and create a third (half) Albanian state in the Balkans. Macedonians are resisting, but Tirana and Edi Rama are orchestrating Albanian political parties against Gruevski. The end game is to make Macedonia a NATO member.”

Jazexhi also details how, “in Albania, we have two major terrorist organizations being protected by the Americans and the Europeans.”

The first is what Ankara describes as the Fetullah Gulen Terror organization (FETO), allegedly instrumentalized by German intelligence; “Turkey is protesting why Albania hosts the FETO group but the Americans host them against Erdogan.”

The second is Mojahedin-e Khalq (MKO), which fights against Tehran; “Albania is being turned into the center of MKO. John Bolton was recently in Tirana, with other international supporters of MKO, and they are attacking Iran and calling for regime change.”

The MKO’s wacky Marjam Rajavi has also visited Tirana, developing plans to “topple the Ayatollahs” in Iran.

The key issue, as Jazexhi emphasizes, is that “after turning the Balkans into a recruiting center for ISIS/Daesh during the Syria war, now the Americans are turning Albania into a jihad 2.0 state.”

Meanwhile, the European Union and the Americans, who want to de-radicalize the Wahhabi Muslims of Europe, keep mum about the Iranian jihadis.”

The “Invisible” Enemy

But then there is the “invisible” enemy that really matters.

In late March, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic went to Beijing in his last official visit before the April 2 elections. Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that economic cooperation with Serbia – and the Balkans at large – is a priority for China.

No question. In 2014, Beijing created a fund that will invest 10 billion euros in Central and Eastern Europe. Last year, China Everbright bought Tirana’s airport in Albania. China Exim Bank is financing highway construction in both Macedonia and Montenegro.

In Serbia, China Road and Bridge Corporation built the 170 million euro Pupin bridge over the Danube in Belgrade – a.k.a. the “Sino-Serbian Friendship Bridge”, inaugurated in 2014 and 85% financed by a China Exim Bank loan.

And the cherry in the (infrastructure development) cake is the 350 km, $2.89 billion high-speed rail line between Athens and Budapest, via Macedonia and Belgrade.

The EU has set off alarm bells on the flagship $1.8 billion Budapest-Belgrade stretch, investigating whether the Hungarian section violated strict EU laws according to which public tenders are a must for large transportation projects.

Inbuilt is the proverbial Western haughtiness, ruling that the Chinese could not possibly be capable of building high-speed rail infrastructure as well if not better – and for a lower cost – than in Europe.

Budapest-Belgrade happens to be the crucial stretch of the Land Sea Express Route that Beijing pledged to build, way back in 2014, with Hungary, Serbia and Macedonia. That’s the crux of the Southeastern Europe node of the New Silk Roads, now Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); a trade corridor between the container port of Pireus, in the Mediterranean – co-owned by China Ocean Shipping Company since 2010 – all the way to Central Europe.

NATO’s official spin is that it must be planted in the Balkans to fight the “threat of terrorism.” According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, “I recently visited Bosnia Herzegovina and Kosovo, and I’m encouraged to see how focused they are on countering the threat of foreign fighters.”

Jihad 2.0 may be directed against Slavs in Macedonia, against Iran and against Turkey. Not to mention against the Russian underbelly. The invisible angle is that they can always be deployed to jeopardize China’s drive to integrate southeast Europe as a key node of the New Silk Roads.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.

Pepe Escobar, Sputnik news,

June 3, 2017 0 comment

Albania

For the attention of former MEK members in Albania: What is to be done?

Where does the UNHCR refugee allowance of individual MEK members go?

One humanitarian issue which the international humanitarian and human rights organizations unfortunately totally ignore, of course for political interests, is the situation of former MEK (Mojahedin-e Khalq,Rajavi Cult) members in Albania.

According to a deal made in Geneva between the UNHCR and the MEK, the entire refugee allowances due to individual MEK members who are resident in Albania is being paid to the MEK leaders to be spent as they wish and not paid to the individual members for their personal support.

During Saddam Hussein’s era in Iraq, Massoud Rajavi used to receive per head allowances from the Iraqi government. Rajavi used to exaggerate the number of individuals in his organization in order to get more money. Even those living in Europe and America or even the dead were included in the list. Members were brought into Iraq for training sessions or meetings and their arrival was registered, but their departure was not and by doing so the numbers for claiming payments was increased.

At the present time, the Rajavi cult has included even those who have defected the organization and those living outside Albania in the list it gives to the UNHCR. In this way, it receives extra refugee payments. It also means that those who have left the organization do not receive the allowance they are entitled to. In the cult’s list, there are some who have left the cult and even gone back to Iran, but the MEK still gets their allowances. It is doubtful that the UNHCR does not know about this.

Before members were transferred to Albania from Iraq, the Rajavi cult insisted that members sign letters asking for their monthly allowance to be paid directly to the MEK instead of to them as individuals. These letters were in English, so most members are unaware of the content of what they signed. And of course, those who have subsequently separated from the MEK are also included in this scheme. Such members were intent on gaining security and freedom and wrote and signed anything so they could escape their current circumstances in Iraq.

By this trick, the Rajavi cult managed to keep control of everyone wishing to leave the organization. What can someone do in an alien country, without any facilities, no job or money and not knowing the language? To those who leave the MEK, the cult only pays half the amount available to them as refugees, which does not cover even their most basic necessities. They are forced to depend on the MEK for housing and food. The allowances of some of these dissenting members have been cut on the false pretext that they contacted their family in Iran which, according to the cult, is equal to contacting the Iranian regime.

The other trick used by the Rajavi cult, which is always used inside the organization for controlling the members, is to place spies everywhere to report the conversations and actions of the others. These individuals in Albania get more allowances than the others even though everyone is entitled to the same amount. The same thing used to be done in the TIPF in Iraq to create differences between the defectors and generate an atmosphere of distrust amongst them.

Lawfully, the UN or the UNHCR have no right to have any direct relationship with organizations. No group can be considered as refugees, in particular if it is a political organization and even worse a terrorist cult. The UN or the ICRC or any other official international organization cannot play the role of benefactor for any organization against a country which is a member of the UN. The use of US gangs today, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq in the past, created from the MEK in which the members are considered individually as refugees is unlawful and against the regulations of the UN.

The UNHCR must deal with each refugee in person. The relationship of the UNHCR with the Rajavi terrorist cult is in contradiction to the UN’s internal regulations and is not acceptable. Of course in the past, in Iraq, the UN and the UNHCR committed this breach of rules both in Ashraf garrison and in Liberty camp. Even if refugees rescind their right to receive the allowance directly and ask for it to be passed to someone else, the UNHCR should not agree to this.

At the present time, regarding the advantage given to the cult by the UN, the members and the former members are alike under the control of the cult. They are all forced to obey the demands of the cult leader.

Maryam Rajavi has told those wishing to leave the organization: “do not suppose our hands are tied here in Albania”. She has emphasized that: “here is the land of the Pentagon and we are part of the Pentagon and our power now is even greater than when we were in Iraq under Saddam Hussein”, and by saying so she wanted to prevent members from leaving the group and tried to cover up her cult’s present weaknesses.

Once again it is worth noting that withholding or reducing a refugee’s allowance by the MEK is against the law, particularly when the cult asks them to spy on others and write and sign whatever is wanted to establish the payments.

The present situation in Albania

For some time now anti-corruption activities have escalated in the country. For some months this year the parliamentary representatives of the Democratic Party refused to attend the assembly and boycotted the parliament. They demanded that the Prime Minister resign before the election since he might cheat. The parliament has appointed its speaker as the new President. He has announced that the election must go ahead but has given no guarantees to the opposition. The ambassadors of the US and western countries say that the elections, with or without the Democrats, must be held on the 18th June.

In the next few weeks some demonstrations and even street conflicts are expected in Albania since the Democrats have been ignored by the west but they have popular support and it seems there might even be violent clashes. The latest news is that the government and the opponents have reached an agreement but they did not reveal its contents. There is a possibility that they postpone the elections in order to sort things out beforehand.

One internal problem in Albania is corruption. The Albanian deputy interior minister Elona Gjebrea is an MEK lobbyist who is also devoted to the Neocons in the US. She has recently visited the UK in her role as the Albanian anti-trafficking coordinator. She was invited to the US before that and she follows US policy in this regard. Even the Albanian media is dissatisfied with her and question whether she is a deputy minister in the Albanian government or the MEK lobby, in particular when the elections are ahead.

A link to one example of protest against the deputy interior minister of Albania, who even says “I am a Mojahed-e Khalq”, can be read below.

A po fusin terroristët e njohur si “muxhahedinë” deputetë në parlamentin shqiptar?

The American paper Huffington Post has also written about Elona Gjebrea – responsible for countering slavery in Albania – giving support to Maryam Rajavi’s modern slavery. This has also been covered by the Albanian media. This article can be read in the link below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/albanias-anti-trafficking-coordinator-elona-gjebrea_us_591c7b35e4b0da7850311cc8?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004

The translation of the above mentioned article in the Albanian press can be reached in the link below.

Elona Gjebrea përgëzon Marjam Raxhavin për mbajtjen e skllevërve modernë në Tiranë

When the Albanian government of Edi Rama agreed to host the MEK, an agreement was reached that no cost and no problem would ensue for the country and that everything would be under the supervision of the UNHCR. The agreement indicates that responsibility for all the members is with the UN and there should be no burden left on the shoulders of the people of Albania. The US promised the Albanian government that the MEK members transferred to Albania would all be under control.

What to be done?

One of the things can be done is that the former members show in different ways that they are not controlled by the cult and they are free. By doing this the promise made by the US to the Albanian government that everyone transferred into the country is under the control of the MEK and there is no need for direct involvement of Americans and Albanians, is broken. The same thing happened in Iraq and the US had to establish TIPF for the separated members with separate costs.

The former members in Albania do recognize that although the cult has taken away their UNHCR allowances, but at the same time it is very afraid of their freedom of action, particularly interviewing the press. They would even pay more if there is a chance of media coverage on these issues. Therefore, the formers can be encouraged to adopt a more active role instead of their present passive part.

The Rajavi cult has given letters to some former members stating that their allowances would be cut on the excuse that they have contact with the Iranian regime and has even published these letters in the cult’s websites. These are documents which could be used against the MEK and the UNHCR and even the Albanian government which must be held responsible for it. The Rajavi cult has exploited these individuals for their whole life and now refuses to pay them their minimum rights. The MEK should not be the intermediary for this payment.

The will of the former members is that a center under the supervision of the UNHCR and the Albanian government be established to deal with the refugees individually and not as a group. This wish must find its way into the media in the country. The former members can approach the UNHCR in Tirana and ask them why there is a breach of law and why their affairs have been left for the cult to deal with. They can give the result of their activities to the media to inform Albanian public opinion.

Any media pressure by the former members in English or Albanian on the UNHCR – which has illegally given their allowances to the MEK – and on the Albanian government, particularly the interior ministry which has become a lobby for the cult, will be useful and would have an effect on the elections.

The Rajavi terrorist cult has a pressure lever called the UN allowances, and of course the former members have an even more useful lever which is the public opinion and the special situation of the cult in Albania before the elections which can help them to gain their rights from the MEK.

Please let us know your opinions.

saharfamily@yahoo.com

May 29, 2017 0 comment

Albania

Letter to the Head of the UN High Commissioner

Dear Mr. Filippo Grandi,

I am Mohammadvali Gholizadeh. I am the father of Ali. I ask your Excellency to help our dear children who are under the severe mental and physical control of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Cult.

The Cult’s leaders have denied us to have a visit or even have a short contact with each other now for long years.

After the MKO members relocated to Albania, the UNHCR entitled a monthly payment for each MKO member. However the MKO Cult put our children under pressure and do not give them the money they are entitled to. They put our children under severe pressure and give them a very small amount of that financial support in order that they do not be able to leave the group and repatriate to Iran.

I beg you to consider our plea and compliant. I ask you to facilitate a condition that the financial support be given directly to our children in order not to be used as a pressure tool against them by the MKO cult leaders. Please help our children to be able to decide for their own fate freely.

I ask you to help me as an ailing, aged father who has suffered a lot waiting to see his dear son once more.

Sincerely Yours,

May 28, 2017 0 comment

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