Hassan Heyrani sent a video message from Karrec detention center to voice his complaint to the Albanian citizens and authorities. Heyrani who is a former member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and a current member of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) is on hunger strike to protest his unlawful detention.
On January 7th, 2023, Hassan Heyrani is on his twentieth day of his hunger strike to draw attention of the Albanian authorities to his case and the case of five other ASILA members who have been detained by the Albanian border and immigration Police since November 11th.
Hassan Heyrani left the MEK seven years ago and began building a new life in the Albanian community. He is married to Margarita Balco, an Albanian girl. They are going to have a baby while Hassan’s fate in Albania is not clear.
In his video message from custody, Hassan calls on the Albanian government to give them a clear answer on the reason of their detention otherwise deliver them to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that transferred them from Iraq to Albania seven years ago.
As a defector of the MEK, Hassan Heyrani wonders why the Albanian government first received him on the base of humanitarian reason as a member of the MEK but now that he has defected the group, he is no more welcome in their country. “I joined the MEK for freedom but after I found out that they were lying I separated myself from them,” he explains about his former membership in the cult of Maryam Rajavi.
“I continue hunger strike until receiving a clear answer from the government” he says. “How long should we be here and what future is waiting for us?”