The issue of weird and cult-like conduct of the leaders of Mujahedin e-Khalq organization (MKO, a.k.a MEK and NCRI) and their bizarre treatment of other members has been an acknowledged issue.
The MKO authorizes use of violence against its own members. MKO leaders further use acts of violence as a tool for inner-cultish elimination of members who have somehow distanced from the group’s ideology.
Some major and most prominent methods adopted by leaders of terrorist groups such as MKO to keep and extend their dominance include: Removal of opposition, discrediting the disaffected members and naming them as betrayers before and after their removal, slandering the critics and the opposition by false and shameful accusations, surprising inversion of the political or ideological stance, and encouragement of members to humiliate themselves when facing any feelings of obligation, questions or doubts. In this case, the member will turn into a devotee and inculcates himself that he doesn’t have the ability to think and differentiate between things. And that’s just his leader who forms his life and thoughts.
Such occurrences that have taken place in the terrorist MKO are discussed below briefly.
Assassination of Javad Saeidi in autumn 1973 by the so called Muslim leadership of the MKO and assassination of Sharif Vaqefi in spring 1975 by the Marxist leadership of the cult are no different in their natures. Both of these assassinations have taken place as a result of the cult’s belief in Stalinism and physical removal. From the MKO’s point of view, not only such assassinations can’t be blamed, but also they are done to protect the governing principals in the organization. In a cult with such a view, any opposition to the leadership will lead to death and physical removal. Javad Saeidi’s only sin was that he was bold enough to leave the organization. Sharif Vaqefi’s crime was somehow the same and he was assassinated with the excuse of not obeying the organizational orders. It wasn’t just about the fact that they didn’t convert to Marxism.
Some of the members, who didn’t accept the new ideology of the organization, were forced to criticize and somehow humiliate themselves. Some others were forced to go laboring in the southern regions of the city in order to think twice on their ideologies. Some religious members were banned from having weapons and cyanide capsules. As a result of this punishment, the punished member would be easily arrested by the Police if spotted. The members who stood against changing ideology were eliminated if they were too inflexible.
Javad Saeidi was sentenced to death by the organization’s leadership because of his opposition to the organization. He hid in Qom city for a few months but finally he was kidnapped and killed while he was blindfolded.
Some other MKO members assassinated by the order of the cult leaders include: Mahdi Amir Shah Karami, Majid Sharif Vaghefi, Morteza Samadieh Labaf, Rafat Afraz, Mahboubeh afraz, Abdoreza Moniri Javid, Morteza Houdashtian, Hossein Kermanshahi Asl, Mohammad Hasan Abrari Jahromi, Ali Mirza Jafar, Hosein Ahmadi Rohani, Ali Mohebbi, Ahmad Ahmad, Fatemeh Fartouk Zadeh, and Ali Khodaei Sefat and Mohammad Gharzi.