The 20th session of the trial court of 104 Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) members and the group as a legal entity was held in Tehran. The recent session was held at the 11th branch of the criminal court of Tehran province on Tuesday, September 1st, 2024. The court was presided by Judge Dehqani.
The court was attended by the lawyers of the plaintiffs, the family of the victims, the lawyers of the defendants the prosecutor’s representative and survivors of the group’s terrorist acts and former members of the group. Mohammad Reza Goli Eskardi and Iraj Salehi, two former members of the MEK took the stand as eye-witnesses of the group’s crimes.
Eskardi served the MEK for 23 years. In the early days of 1988, he left Iran for Turkey, and was recruited by the organization from there. In Turkey, he worked in the bases of the MEK for a while, and then he was sent to Iraq.
He stayed in the group’s Camp Ashraf, Iraq until 2011 when he escaped the camp. His family went to Baghdad to visit him. They helped him return home after so many years of separation. “Contact with family was forbidden in Camp Ashraf,” he told the court. “With the encouragement and support of my family, I returned to Iran. It has been 10 years since I returned to Iran, started a family and started a new life.”
“I did not have a fixed position in the organization” he explained about the years of serving the MEK. “They used to change my organizational position from time to time.”
Asked about his involvement in the MEK’s cross border operation against Iran called “Forough Javidan”, Eskardi said, “When they organized us there and we entered the arena, I realized that what they are doing has no other result than suicide; Because they had mobilized everyone and wanted to send everyone to Tehran and we were like a target in front of the Iranian army. I handed over the wounded ones to the Iraqi officials to take them to Baghdad, I also went with them and never returned.”
He continued, “On the same day that I appeared in the battle, I witnessed that they had brought people from different countries, these people did not know how to use weapons at all, Rajavi intentionally brought these people to the battlefield to kill them. A group of them were POWs from Saddam’s prisons. These people had no motivation, they were not an organizational force, and they did not know the organization.”
Stating that he was on the scene during the Pearl operation, the MEK’s operation to aid Saddam Hussein’s army to suppress Iraqi Kurds, the witness said, “When we went to hide in the mountains, they told us that the Iranian troops were going to come and surround Camp Ashraf and so we have to defend ourselves. But after the battle broke out, I realized that the people on the other side of the conflict were not Iranians, they were Iraqi Kurds and nomads who had been killed them with cannons and tanks. Rajavi had no motive other than to kill innocents.”
Asked about the explosion of the office of the Islamic Republic Party by the judge, Eskardi said, “I just have some have general information about this. In the meetings held by Rajavi, I remember him boasting about the actions of July 27th explosion. Several times in the meetings, I saw him boasting about himself and calling it ‘the anger of the people’. He said that the bombing on July 27th was our (MEK’s) work, he did not say mention any name. He said that with this action, we were able to ruin the future of the Islamic Republic. Regarding the terrorist attacks they committed, they simply said that we did it.”
Escardi kept on saying, “These people [the MEK] did not show mercy to anyone and even assassinated businessmen and ordinary people. Before anyone took up arms, the organization had planned terrorist actions to get involved with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The judge told him, “You must have a document for your conversations. What was the structure of the organization and who usually knew about the missions?”
The witness answered, “high-ranking commanders such as Mhvash Sepehri; This person was very violent and humiliated people in meetings. Inside the group, nothing was done without the permission of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi.”
The judge asked Eskardi if Maryam Rajavi knew about the explosion of the Islamic Republic Party office?
Eskardi replied, “At that time, Maryam Rajavi did not have a high position and was only a member, and I don’t think she knew, but the people who were political members of the organization, such as Abbas Davari, Mehdi Abrishamchi, and Siavash, were aware and they consulted each other to do whatever they wanted to do.”
To answer the questions of the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Eskardi explained the organization structure of the MEK, “The leadership council was at the top and the commanders were under the leadership council.”
The judge asked, “Did the leadership council know about the explosion of the party?”
Eskardi answered, “The leadership council selected people who were supposed to carry out the operation. They were sent to quarantine for training so that no one would know about the operation. The members of the organization were not allowed to watch television, but the people who were selected for the operation were allowed to watch television to get to know the atmosphere of the society. They received military training, and a few people accompanied them to the border.”
Mohammadi, the lawyer asked him, “When was the last time you saw Masoud Rajavi?”
Eskardi stated that Massoud Rajavi used to hold public meetings before 2003. “After that, he did not appear again and the audio file of his speeches were played in the meetings, which continued until 2013,” he said.
Eskardi did not receive anything during his 23 years serving the MEK. “It was just forced labor,” he said.
