As the vaccination against Covid-19 has began in most countries around the world, Albania started a mass inoculation campaign from March, ahead of the summer tourism season, according to the AP. The government is continuing to work on securing new vaccine contracts so the entire population can be fully vaccinated by early 2022.
Some of the MEK defectors who live in Albania received the first shot of the Covid vaccine. This is considered important because they are free citizens in Albania who enjoy the normal facilities that Albanians enjoy. This is exactly contrary to what the MEK propaganda tells the rank and file about the life outside the group.
Two of the defectors of the group, Parviz Heidari and Ali Hajari who received their first shots published their photos on their Facebook accounts insulting leaders of the MEK as “cult leaders who do not want to see them happy and healthy”.
Ali Hajari
Parviz Ahmadi
The defectors seem to be very grateful to any joyful moment of their life in the free world. They cherish the Albanian journalist, Gjergjy Thanasi who gave them colored Esther eggs in one of their gatherings in coffeeshop. It is one of the few Albanian religious traditions that survived communism. Grandmothers dyed eggs blood red in a simple yet powerful sign of faith and rebellion against the atheism that snuffed out churches, killed priests and imams, and deprived Albanians of faith for 40 years. They did it in hiding, secretly celebrating Easter as they gave them to their grandchildren and families, risking death or interment for their families if caught. The egg represents new life, dyed in the color of Jesus blood.
New life for defectors of the Mujahedin Khalq is full of these small happy times. Their life is inspired by their own free will and their own decisions. They are free from supervision of the MEK commanders. They are not forced to confess any of their thoughts and deeds to the commanders any more.