Former member of the Mujahedin Khalq (MEK) announces his readiness to challenge the leaders of the group in a debate.
Samad Eskandari, former member of the MEK, from Zanjan Iran is the representative of the 42 former members of the group who filed a judicial complaint against the leaders of the MEK. He was interviewed by Fathallah Eskandari the responsible of Nejat Society in Zanjan Province, on October 16th, 2021.
In the interview that was conducted in Persian, the atrocities of leaders of the MEK against their own members and the recent campaign has been launched against the group leaders, was discussed.
Samad Eskandari, former member of the MEK
Eskandari presented a brief report on the judiciary process that led to the reference of the verdict issued by the national court of Iran to the international court of The Hague. As the representative of the plaintiffs of the dossier, Eskandari also wrote a letter to Karim Khan, the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “I offered certain examples of human rights violations committed by leaders of the Cult of Rajavi in the letter,” he said. “Particularly, I pointed out forced celibacy for the members who are captives in the group. I also stated the prohibition of contacting family, torture, brainwashing and Inquisition as examples of human rights abuse committed by the MEK authorities.”
Asked about the mental and physical traumas that he endured in the Cult of Rajavi, Samad Eskandari answered, “Unfortunately, it is too difficult for me even to recall such things. I spent 20 years of my life in the hellish Cult of Rajavi…I just point out a few of their atrocities. You yourself (Fathollah Eskandari) were shot in the hand three times under the order of Massoud Rajavi. They ordered to kill, torture and shoot members…I witnessed how they treated members. Their conduct was pure instance of crime against humanity…They intentionally banned marriage in the group under different pretexts. Rajavi forced married members to divorce their spouses and he separated their children from them. This is an example of genocide. Genocide is not only killing people but also it can be preventing people from marrying and having children.”
Recounting his memoirs of living in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, Eskandari notified that expressing dissent against the MEK leaders is responded by the most horrific punishments. “If a person had expressed his opposing opinion against the group, he would have been jailed in iron containers in solitary confinement, for three weeks,” he recounted. “Then they would give him a pen and paper to write down an apology letter to Rajavi and to confess that he had cheated on the group. He had to ask Rajavi to forgive him.”
About the current situation of members of the MEK in Albania, he said, “They are under the most severe supervision structure… Gender segregation is very critical in the cult of Rajavi. Female members are under severe pressure to hide themselves from male members. They do not have the right to meet a man. This is the reactionary ideology of MEK leaders.”
Samad Eskandari have been in contact with a large number of families whose beloved ones are taken as hostages in the MEK. “I have visited a lot of families,” he said. “They all support the lawsuit against the leaders of the MEK. Some of them even wanted to be registered as the plaintiffs.”
The MEK has bases in certain European countries such as France and Albania. Asked about the fate of the group in these countries, Eskandari told: “Maryam Rajavi and her disappeared husband Massoud claim that they support human rights and democracy for Iranian people in the European countries! As they made false promises in Iraq, today they claim to support human rights in front of the journalists and their cameras, in Europe. Thus, the verdict of the national Iranian court has been sent to the judiciary system of those countries in particular Albania and France. This will change the view of people of those countries regarding the Cult of Rajavi. People will surely question the MEK leaders for what they have done against their own members. Their gestures for democracy and human rights will be disregarded by illuminated free-minded people.”
He asked the people of Albanian and France to stop the MEK from tainting the legacy of human rights and freedom in their territories.
At the end of the interview, Eskandari invited the leaders of the MEK to participate a debate in an unbiased country and before the cameras of independent TV channels. “We will defend our rights and they can defend their rights. And then, we will see what behind the scene is and who will win the debate,” he said.