Lirije Shekari, the wife of Gholamreza Shekari, a former member of the Mujahedin Khalq (MEK), writes about the bitter times of members caught in this cult. Lirije Shekari is an active member of Nejat Society Albania. Gholamreza Shekri married Liri after leaving the MEK cult in Albania, and unfortunately shortly after the couple got married, Gholamreza was detained in the illegal refugee camp Karrec. These days, Liri Shekari is waiting for her husband’s release from the camp, and she continues humanitarian activities along with other members of the Albanian Nejat Society.
In the second part of her memoirs, Lirige gives a thorough portrait of the sufferings of MEK members:
In previous episode I told my friends that my husband’s problems were not few when he was in the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). Some impacts can still be seen in him. He is not a normal member of society. Well, it is clear that he suffered a lot and was under a lot of mental pressure that even at nights he talked in sleep and when I asked him about it, he said that he still does not forget those bombs and those who were innocently killed.
These people who are members of the MEK and all of them have suffered and have always been under the pressure of their commanders. This is far from humanity. MEK leaders make people their slaves, for their own evil purposes.
Another memory I remember one night was related to his mother. After he defected the MEK, when he called his mother and siblings after 29 years, they all had a hard time believing that this was the child of that family. When I heard that, the hairs on my body stood up. I wondered what kind of life my husband and the other people inside the MEK had. My father was curious and said that maybe my husband was lying.
I asked some other defectors of the MEK if Gholamreza was telling the truth that he has not seen his family for 29 years and they also said, “We are like your husband because the MEK imprisoned us in a camp, so believe your husband’s words!”
I have another memory too. About having a wife. Gholamreza said that in the MEK marriage is forbidden because they say that women do not allow us to fight against the enemy, which was unbelievable to me because I have seen in other wars how women have fought alongside men and won and even they married each other and they have children.
So, what do the Mujahedin say? They have to promote their work with lies and have become anti-family. When I sat at the table of my husband’s friends, I saw how the MEK ruined the lives of these people with lies and dishonesty for the sake of their own ambitions.