Defectors of the MEK in Albania

The story of Bijar Rahimi

For Bijar Rahimi, 21 years of captivity in a destructive cult means losing the best time of his life. His youth was lost like many other youths who fell into the trap of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). He was recruited by fraudulent tactics of the MEK while he was seeking a good job, with the dream of a better life and prosperity. He spent 21 years of his life behind the mental and physical bars of the Cult of Rajavi.

Bijar Rahimi was recruited by the MEK shortly before the coalition forces’ invasion to Iraq. In a letter he wrote to the International Red Cross after leaving the MEK, he described his past as follows: “I left Iran 22 years ago with the promise and deception of the MEK to go to Europe to find a better job and improve life through Pakistan border but I was taken to Camp Ashraf in Diyala province, Iraq. I joined the organization one month before the invasion by the coalition forces in 2003. After the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the disarmament of the MEK by the United States, I was told that it was not possible to go to Europe. Then I and many other people who came with the same promise were faced with this trick that if we returned to Iran, we would be imprisoned, tortured and executed. Under the pressure of meetings and brainwashing techniques, despite our inner desire, we were forced to stay in the organization.”

Both Bijar and his brother Sarfaraz were caught in the trick of MEK recruiters. Sarfaraz managed to leave the group after the relocation of the group in Albania, but Bijar remained under the mental pressure of the destructive Cult of Rajavi. “The leaders of the Cult of Rajavi deceived me and forced me to stay in the organization by brainwashing and taking an oath, and they wasted 21 years of my life without any salary or savings, without the right to call and communicate with my family, without having a family, and with illness and mental and physical problems.”

Even since he was in Iraq, Bijar wanted to leave the MEK. In his testimonies, he states that in 2016, when he was living in Camp Liberty in Iraq, his asylum case was successfully submitted by Norway through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. But the officials of the MEK dissuaded him from becoming a refugee to Norway and forced him to stay in the organization.

Leaving the MEK thanks to the power of the media

While Bijar was trapped in the MEK’s camp in Manz village in the north of Tirana, his brother, Sarfraz Rahimi, married an Albanian girl named Erisa Edrisi and had a family. Unlike many members of the MEK, whose families are trying to visit them from Iran, Sarfaraz lived a few kilometers away from Bijar in the city of Tirana. His efforts to meet Bijar had been faced with obstacles from the leaders of the MEK. He and his wife wanted their son Ermolindo to meet his uncle Bijar, and this double motivation led them to cooperate with Nejat Society in Iran and to establish Nejat Society Albania.

Since the early days of her marriage with Sarfaraz, Erisa Rahimi was in contact with members of the MEK who were friends of her husband. She, who is the head of Nejat society Albania today, said in his recent interview with News 24 of Albania about her motivation to cooperate with Nejat Society: “Because I was a Persian translator for Iranians, I got to know their pain and suffering inside the MEK so I made a promise to myself, to help them. As a translator, I was with them to go to the doctor and get a residence permit and rent a house, etc. I was very happy when Nejat Society Albania was formed with the help of the Nejat Society Iran because I could better support people in the society. The important task of our association is to help families inside Iran to free their children from the captivity of the MEK.”

The humanitarian and cultural activities of Nejat Society Albania to support MEK defectors, helping to integrate them into the Albanian society and enlightening about the nature of the Cult of Rajavi and its threats to the Albanian society, made Erisa and Sarfraz as activists of the society, to be noticed by the Albanian media. The result of several media appearances of the brother and his wife in the Albanian media was that Bijar became aware of his brother’s health and freedom, despite the lies that his commanders had told him.
In an interview with Bijar, Sarfaraz and Erisa by Euronews Albania, in March 2024, Bijar described the story of his escape from the MEK as follows: “I am fortunate that with the help of Euronews after the attack of the Albanian police on Ashraf 3, I saw Sarfraz and in this way, I got hope and was able to escape. I am very happy now that in addition to being here in Albania, I can contact my other family members in Iran whenever I want, as well as my friends in Europe and anywhere in the world.”

Bijar’s story motivates both media activists and Nejat Society

Aldo Sollulari, a journalist who became acquainted with the Nejat Society Albania and its activities through his career, is today the media manager of the Society and works there along with several other Albanian citizens. In a recent interview with the Albanian News 24, when his couleague asked about the most impressive story of MEK defectors in Albania, he mentioned the story of Bijar and Sarfraz Rahimi. After the Albanian police entered Camp Ashraf 3, Bijar saw the interview that Aldo Solulari had conducted with Sarfaraz and Erisa on News 24. The Interview made Bijar realize that the MEK’s propaganda about his brother was a lie and that his brother is outside the organization, not so far away waiting to see him.
Bijar got a visa (an exit permit by MEK commanders) to leave Camp Manz under the pretext of shopping, and soon after leaving, he submited himself to the Albanian police. He was reunited with his brother’s family with the legal protection of the Albanian police and today enjoys the individual freedoms of a free citizen.

Bijar’s story has some similarities with the stories of some other former members of the MEK. There are other people who, using the negligence of the commanders of the MEK and the opportunity to access the Internet and the media, got the spark in their minds to leave the cult. The most recent example was reported in the Le Monde newspaper’s interview with Mohammadreza Torabi, a former child soldier. In this interview, he admits that the first doubts about Massoud Rajavi’s ideology arose in his mind when he got access to the Internet in Tirana and came across an article on Nejat Society’s website, written by Alireza Mirasgari, about the deliberate murder of his father under the torture of MEK interrogators.

Humanitarian mission of Nejat Society

Thus, we see that the activities of Nejat Society, both in Iran and in Albania, can be effective in destroying the mental bars around the Cult of rajavi, in case of proper media coverage. Media reflection is not only useful in enlightening the public opinion, but it is a narrow but possible way to penetrate the minds of the members trapped behind the mental and physical bars of the cult.

Regardless of any political or religious bias, the mission of the Nejat Society is humanitarian and its goal is to facilitate the communication of families with their loved ones imprisoned in the personality cult of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi. For the activists of the Nejat Society, the release of each person from the destructive cult of Rajavi brings lots of pleasant feelings of success and happiness.

July 10, 2024 0 comment

Albania

Reflections on Nejat Society’s grand gathering in Albanian media

On June 23, 2024, Nejat Society Albania, held a gathering in Tirana. The gathering was welcome by the Albanian public and media.

As an officially registered Albanian entity, founded by former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and Albanian citizens, Nejat Society Albania received a large number of Albanians and Iranians living in Albania, in Tufinë district of Tirana. The event was covered by correspondents from various Albanian media outlets.

The news coverage of the gathering was done by several Albanian TV and radio channels and news outlets. They considered the gathering as a conference on human rights of members of the MEK who are confined and tortured in the group’s camp in Manez, in North of Tirana. They reported on testimonies of defectors of the MEK who are current members of Nejat Society Albania and on the speakers of the event who defended the rights of MEK members and their families in Iran.

The conference was regarded as humanitarian event which was focused on the rights of Iranians who are taken as hostages in Manez and their families who are not allowed to travel to Albania to visit their loved ones. It was also perceived as a cultural opportunity for mutual relationships between Iranians and Albanians.

The Albanian media that reported on Nejat Society Albania’s grand gathering are the below-mentioned ones with the following titles:

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/Publialb-Nejat-Al-202406.mp4

PUBLIALB:
Conference from Nejat Albania on human rights and violations that have had human consequences

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/RTSH-Nejat-Al-202406.mp4

RTSH:
Integration of Iranians in Albania, conference on human rights

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/RTSH-Nejat-Al-202406-2.mp4

RTSH:
The Iranians of Tirana are happy to have escaped from the hands of the MEK

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/AlfaMedia-Nejat-Al-202406.mp4

Alfa Press:
The conference on human rights, the great cultural event

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/Crystal-TV-202406.mp4

Crystal Media:
The grand conference of Nejat – Tortures of the MEK

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/BionewsTV-Nejat-Al-202406.mp4

BIO NEWS TV:
Conference from Nejat on human rights

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/TiranaTV-Nejat-Al-202406.mp4

Tirana TV:
Conference from Nejat Albania

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/Albania-TV-Nejat-202406.mp4

ATV:
The grand conference of Nejat – Violations of the MEK and the torture of their members

June 26, 2024 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

The great gathering of Nejat Society Albania in Tirana

On June 23, 2024, Nejat Society Albania, as a supporter of Iranians living in Albania and as an officially registered Albanian institute, held a large gathering with public invitation in Tufinë district of Tirana.

The purpose of holding this gathering was to express the demands and goals of the Nejat Society Albania, which was announced as follows:
“No to the violation of human rights in the Mujahedin-e Khalq camp in Manz, Durres”
“Yes to visit between the mothers and their children in the MEK’s camp in Manz, Durres””
“No to the separation of men and women in the MEK’s camp in Manz, Durres”
“Yes to the release of the confined members in the MEK’s camp in Manz, Durres”

The gathering had more than 500 participants. A large number of human rights associations and civil rights, women’s rights and mothers’ rights activists in Tirana participated the event and supported its goals.

The great gathering of the Nejat Society Albania started at 10:00 am with the opening clip broadcast on the big wide screen. Then, Erisa Idrisi (Rahimi), the head of the society thanked all the participants. She also thanked the Albanian government and police for making it possible for them to establish the Nejat Society Albania and implement the event. She explained about the society and its goals, as well as the MEK.

Nejat Albania’s great gathering

Idrisi also appreciated the managing director of Nejat Society, Ebrahim Khodabandeh, for supporting and guiding the society of Albania. Pointing to the fact that they have not yet reached their main commitment, which is the release of all the members trapped in the MEK camp in Manz, Durres, and the meeting of the families with their children.

A documentary which highlights the cut-like and anti-family nature of the MEK was aired, which shocked the audience by the realities about the group.

The second speaker of the event Angjela Doçi, the head of the student defense committee of the Nejat Society Albania, said: “The MEK camp in Manz in Durres has very strict rules that actually torture the residents there. Residents of this camp are not allowed to talk or communicate with their family members. They are not allowed to think freely, they cannot even breathe freely. Their suffering has no end, but it increases day by day and their lives become more and more hell, a burning hell that burns their souls and break their hearts.”

Angjela Doçi

The next speaker was Ela Deda, the legal director of Nejat Society Albania. Deda said: “Today, we have gathered in this conference to talk about the rights of migrant refugees, especially the Iranian members of Nejat Society Albania and all the MEK members who are imprisoned in the group’s camp in Manz, Durres. It has been two years since I joined Nejat Society Albania to support a very important goal, namely the freedom and human rights of former members of the MEK, and to convey their valuable messages in order to have a small contribution to the unification of as many families as possible. Human rights are an important part of legal theories and an important philosophical-political concept. Among the basic human rights, we can mention the right to individual freedoms, the right to life, the right to self-determination, the right to choose a religion, etc. Human rights describe the concept that all people are born with universal human rights. Human rights do not only mean freedom from coercion, discrimination and abuse. Human rights must be current in all aspects of our life with maximum potential. Human rights compel governments to protect our freedoms and work to ensure dignity, justice and inclusion for all.”

Ela Deda, the legal director of Nejat Society Albania

The gathering went on with airing a clip of the families of MEK members inside Iran. Consequently, the attendees were deeply affected by the stories of mourning mothers and fathers who miss their loved ones who are barred in the MEK camp. Many shed tears after watching the clip.

Mehdi Soleimani, former member of the MEK and an active member of the society, gave a speech in Albanian. Mehdi Soleimani said: “I was in the MEK for fourteen years and I lived with them. The MEK is a Cult-like group and its members do not have the right to have any relationship with the outside world of the cult. I was in a prison called MEK for fourteen years and during this time I could not talk to my mother, father, siblings. According to the MEK, the family is considered an enemy and one should not talk to them. Many people who came to Tirana ran away from the MEK while going to the doctor or in the dark of the night. When I escaped from the MEK, it took me a month to find my brother’s phone number. When I called him, he didn’t know me. After I gave several addresses and told the names of my father, mother and sister, my brother recognized me and said that he would go home and call at night. At night when he called, the whole family was gathered. When I talked to my mother, she said this is not my Mehdi. I again showed that it was me so that she recognized me and started crying. For a week, I only talked to my mother from morning to night. During that week my mother only cried and spoke a few sentences and then cried again.”

Ebrahim Khodabande, the CEO of Nejat Society, spoke live to theaudiance. He said:

“Greetings to all the respected audience and thank you for making it to gather here to support the goals of Nejat Society Albania. I would like to thank each and every member and officials of Nejat Society Albania, both Iranian and Albanian, and also appreciate the assistance of the authorities of the Albanian government who made the establishment and registration of the Nejat Society possible.

“Nejat Society belongs to families who are in Iran far away from their loved ones in the MEK camp because the leaders of the MEK do not allow their members to communicate with their families. Nejat Association tries to somehow provide the possibility of communication between families and members living in the MEK camp in Durres.

“Many news is heard that the leaders of the MEK do not respect and recognize the minimum rights of their members in this camp. It is also heard that the Albanian government is not allowed to interfere in the affairs of this camp, which is in Albanian territory.

“On behalf of thousands of families in Iran, I request the government of Albania to exercise its sovereignty over this camp and ensure that human rights are respected in this camp in accordance with the standards of the Council of Europe Human Rights Convention, of which the Republic of Albania is one of the signatories.

“Thank you again to all of you who came together to defend the goals of Nejat Society and I request you to ask the responsible authorities in the Albanian government why the Albanian government cannot or will not exercise its sovereignty over this camp. And is it really true that this camp in Durres is under the absolute control of the leaders of the People’s Mojahedin Organization?”

Soraya Abdullahi, the mother of Amir Aslan Hassanzadeh, and Masoumeh Rezaei, the mother of Saeed Farajullah Hosseini, spoke live on behalf of all mothers and families in Iran, and spoke about the pain and suffering of the separation of tens of years, which touched the audience immensely. They urged the Albanian government to make arrangements to connect these heartbroken mothers and expectant families with their loved ones. Their words were accompanied by expressions of emotion and continuous praise from the audience.

RTSH report on the great gathering of Nejat Albania

The great gathering of Nejat Society Albania was also welcomed by the media. TV and radio channels and various publications covered this gathering by sending a team of reporters and cameramen. Famous and popular televisions including: RTSH 1 (Nationwide State Television Network), RTSH NEWS (national state television news network), NEWS 24, ALPHAPRESS TV, ATV, Tirana 1, TRING TV, BIO NEWS, PUBLIALB and Kristal TV covered the event.

June 24, 2024 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

Final Statement of the Great Gathering of the Albanian Nejat Society

At the end of the great gathering of the Albanian Nejat Society in Tirana on Sunday, June 23, 2024, a statement was read by the president of the society, and then its copies were signed by all the participants, which will be delivered to the authorities of the Ministry of Interior of Albania in the coming days.
The text of this statement is as follows:

Honorable people of Albania
About 7 years ago, the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO) were brought to this country from Iraq in a humanitarian gesture by the Albanian government and were finally settled in a camp near the city of Manez in Durres province. But according to the statements of the Albanian government officials, the MEK did not fulfill its obligations and acted against the laws and regulations of Albania and became a threat to national security.

According to the testimony of those who managed to escape from the MEK camp in Albania and return to normal life under the support of the Albanian government, unfortunately, the leaders of the MEK violate the basic human rights of the members in this camp. The members are denied the right to marry and form a family, the right to communicate with the outside world, especially the family, and the right to choose their own destiny.

The Albanian Nejat Society was formed with the help of the families of the members of the MEK in Iran in order to support Iranians who were able to separate from this organization and return to normal life, as well as to draw the attention of the general public to the conditions inside the camp and to register it with the legal authorities of the Republic of Albania.
On June 20 of last year, Albanian police officers went to inspect this camp with a court order, but unfortunately, they faced a violent confrontation against this legal action of the police officers. The MEK’s violent confrontation against the police and the Albanian government revealed the terrorist nature of the leaders of the MEK to everyone in Albania.
The MEK claims to expand democracy and create the right to free choice for everyone, but in practice, in its relations in its camp in Durres, it does not give its members the least right of choice and freedom of speech.

Although this camp is inside the territory of Albania, but according to those who were previously stationed there, its control is absolutely in the hands of the leaders of the MEK and the Albanian government has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the MEK camp in Durres.

While thanking and appreciating the responsible authorities in the Albanian government for the assistance and support provided and the conditions provided for the return of these people to normal life, the Albanian Nejat Society asks the Albanian government to fulfill its legal right in the MEK camp in apply the territory of Albania and take over the control of this camp and ensure compliance with the standards of human rights based on the human rights convention of the Council of Europe, of which Albania is one of the signatories.
In this regard, the Nejat Society of Albania is willing to cooperate and assist with the responsible authorities in the Albanian government.

Also, the Albanian Nejat Society requests the German government, which is hosting the meeting of the MEK this month, to reconsider this decision and not to allow an undemocratic group to use the democratic atmosphere of western countries to gain legitimacy and deceive people.
This statement is endorsed by the following signatories:

(list of signatures)

June 24, 2024 0 comment

Albania

Aldo Solullari to introduce Nejat Society to Albanians

Aldo Solullari, Media manager of Nejat Society Albania addressed the audience in a video conference. As an Albanian activist of Nejat Society’s office in Albania, he introduced the society, its mission and its activities. Read his recent on-line speech which was in Albanian language, published on Nejat Albania’s You Tube account:

Hello friends and well-wishers of the Albanian Salvation Association, better known as the Nejat Albania Association.

I am happy to convey through this virtual conference the administrative approach of this association, which operates in the framework of the integration of foreign communities in Albania, particularly the Iranian community who have left the Mek camp located near the city of Durres in Manez.

According to an international institutional agreement that has been made possible under the title of humanitarian shelter status, this community has come to Albania to take shelter in our country, after being rebel in their country, trusting their future for decades under a severe surveillance at the mujahedin camp.

In their contracts witnessed by themselves, the former members have found that the union with the MEK organization has been a propaganda to imply the right of integration in the European countries and in our country where they are welcome based on an agreement.

These members of that organization found that joining that organization brought later consequences that they suffer to this day, not being able to communicate with their family members in their country, not having access to social networks to communicate through technological devices. Even their basic rights are violated. They cannot even communicate with those members of their family who may be inside that camp. These and others are outside any standard of living, claiming that they came with the desire to integrate.

There was a need to create an association that operates in the framework of the integration of this community who have left that camp for the real purpose of moving to our country, which is precisely the integration and advancement of a life style.

Once they came to us, they were first given their first cell phone to communicate with their families, and even every support and legal access was made possible to be within every normative legal provision, within the rules of the Republic of Albania.

They are involved in different professions of private businesses, working in different sectors and creating personal capital for their expenses.

In this way, they have managed to get to know the Albanian people better by calling them their brothers and sisters and even creating their own families in our country, and having the status of parents after so many years of being lost without access to their own parents.

The renewal of residence permits was made possible by the assistance of Nejat personnel, where it was done in a transparent manner in cooperation with Albanian institutions, helping these members to be free to interact in our community.

The democratic principles of MEK were already proved to be false, and now we hope that the testimonies of these former members of that organization will be a voice of communication for the other members there, and to understand that they have the support of the Albanian institutions and the big family of the Nejat association for their every need.

Every day, working together to create a new path and road in their life path, paving every hole that the mujahedin organization has left in their memories.

With continuous social and cultural activities and fairs to share their bitter memories, we try to give them strength to move forward and to tell them that this horror film with the title “MEK” has ended, and that now in our country they can live as free and honest citizens, embracing the law and even claiming the right to citizenship.

With respect

Media manager of Nejat Association Albania, Aldo Sulollari

May 18, 2024 0 comment

The cult of Rajavi

RTSH Interview with Nejat Society Albania’s media manager

The Albanian Radio and Television (RTSH) interviewed Aldo Sulollari. The morning show hosted by Angelo Shkreli, received the journalist Aldo Sulollari to talk about his latest projects.

The interview went on with a lot of humor but also spicy moments about the media and social projects that the journalist Aldo Sulollari has recently promoted to the Albanian public.

In some parts, it has been talked about the lifestyle of the famous journalist in the United States of America, but also a return to do media projects in the national media in Albania.
A very interesting point of this interview was Aldo’s professional anniversary, which this year marks 10 years of being part of the Albanian media, explaining that his professional life is constantly divided between the Albanian media and the focus on American platforms.

When asked by the host about his social engagements, he explained that when social activities are centered on an individual, this initiative becomes very significant for the life of this person, but also for the community to whom these social activities are transmitted, but when these activities come from outside the country, they become more solid and important, but also very interesting for the Albanian public.

Aldo explains that he has been part of a social project of Nejat Society Albania for more than 2 years now. Aldo Sulollari explains about the project:
“We are creating everything from scratch, based on every normative legal provision. Nejat in Albania, which is known in Albanian as the “rescue” Society, as the name itself is directly twinned with the founding society located in Iran, which was created by mothers whose children are in the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization known as the MEK camp.

We were in another association with another logo, but the interest was to show in the most direct way that now is the time to save those Iranians locked in that camp and to show that life is beautiful and must be lived. In Iran, we are in the year 1403, while we are in 2024 here, and it is a pity to discuss that there are still such false democracies, where the family according to the MEK is the enemy and you should not communicate with it.

In the MEK organization, all human rights are violated, and moreover, they came to Albania with a humanitarian shelter status, where according to the law, by the Albanian institutions, that camp must be monitored to understand that there are many legal violations and the people are not living free.

There are many mothers who mourn every day for the fate of their children, who have joined a camp, to go to a European country for material benefits, promising that they will have a life with democratic principles, but they’ve been stuck there for years.”

Journalists asked Sulollari for more details about the projects of Nejat Society and how it operates in Albania for its members who have left the mujahedin-e Khalq:

Aldo Sulollari answered:
“I met them by chance, as you invited me to the show tonight, I went as a journalist 2 years ago for an interview, and since that day, they have become part of my professional and personal life. A boy named Mehdi, who spoke my language very well, made me understand that these people have come here to integrate, to get a job, create their families and live life from scratch. As before, and now we are creating activities grand and modest, all kinds of activities, we try to give our best, with a team of Iranians and a team of Albanians, united together, with the support of Albanian institutions, we are giving our best every day to integrate this community in our country, but also to bring the voice of parents in Iran, for whom they suffer every day the fate of not being able to contact with their children who are in Camp Ashraf3.

If you allow me, I want to say hello to a member of the Nejat association, who was previously a nurse, doctor, dentist, and when he came to our society, he even became a writer, writing his life story, leaving his mark through literature. Khalil Ansarian, an artist at heart, who loves life, work, and even his Albanian partner. He has told every detail of his life in the MEK organization, in his book.

Inspired by this, now the Nejat Society has made it possible for the Albanian public through 3 other Albanian writers, to bring to the Albanian readers 3 new publications which are different from each other, but with a single mission to leave a witness generation for this history that has been marked in the lives of these members and to make possible and transmit the voice of mothers in Iran.”

Furthermore, during the interview, there were many jokes, where the host of the program was sneezing, and Aldo asked him if he was allergic to the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization.
In this interview and Aldo’s statements, there was also the expectation for the near future to create a media program in the Albanian media this time, to be closer to the Albanian public.

The interview was closed with a great message for Albanian citizens and also for Albanian institutions.

April 13, 2024 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

Ali Mohammad Rahimi Alashti announced defection from the MEK

Ali Mohammad Rahimi Alashti, announced his defection from the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) on New Year’s Eve. He left the MEK’s camp Ashraf 3 in Manez and joined the office of Nejat Society in Tirana.

According to his announcement, he was in the MEK for 34 years. “I was a soldier in the Iran-Iraq war and I was taken as a war prisoner by Iraqi forces in 1886,” he says. “I was transferred to Iraqi POW camp and I was kept there for 4 years.”

In 1990, the war was over but the POWs had not been exchanged. The MEK recruiters came to the disastrous Iraqi POW camps and tried to convince the Iranian prisoners that the MEK’s camp was a better place to stay.

Rahimi joined the MEK but soon he found out that it was not a better place in any way. “I should note that the entire 34 years that I was in the MEK, I witnessed nothing except for lie, deception and fraud,” he states, “We were under the most severe mental torture in the brainwashing sessions of the MEK.”

When the group was relocated in Albania, the cult-like ruling kept on working. Based on Rahimi’s testimony, once the MEK was settled in a European country, it was not reformed to a better organization but the restrictions and cult-like pressure even deteriorated.

Last year, he finally asked the group officials to allow him to leave the group. “The daily routines were boring and exhausting,” he explains why he left. “I could not see any future for my life. There was no possibility to contact my family so I decided to leave the group.”

The MEK leaders did not let him go immediately. They forced him to stay for one more year. During the last year of his stay in Ashraf 3, he endured more mind control meetings but, he was determined to leave.

He closes his announcement letter by saying: “Today, I announce my defection from the MEK. I joined Nejat Society Albania and from this time I will have no relationship with the MEK. I am going to be by the side of Nejat Society in order to fulfill its humanitarian objectives.”

January 1, 2024 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

Concluding Statement of The great gathering of the Nejat Society Albania

Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO) led by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, while they were expelled from Iraq and no other country was willing to receive them, were accepted in Albania for humanitarian reasons about 7 years ago.
But this organization, according to the repeated statements of various responsible officials in the Albanian government, behaved beyond the agreements made and violated the laws of the Republic of Albania, and in an isolated and remote camp, they violated the most basic human rights of the members, that is, the right to communicate with the outside world. especially with the family.

The Albanian Nejat Society, consisting of former members of the MEK, those who managed to recover their freedom and set foot in the outside world, organized this rally with the help of families in Iran to raise public opinion in Albania regarding the issue of human rights violations in the MEK camp. Their aim is to inform the Albanians about the situation and ask the authorities to intervene in this matter and prevent the continuation of this process.

Therefore, we, the participants of this rally, while thanking and appreciating the responsible officials in the government and police of Albania for the support provided to the Iranians living in Albania and especially the members of the Albanian Nejat Society, would like to inform the Albanian government of the following requests:
1. Conditions should be provided and arrangements should be made so that the families of the members of the MEK in Albania can obtain visas and entry permits and travel to Albania so that they can closely monitor the conditions of their loved ones.
2. Refrain from sending the defectors of the MEK to Iran, even if it is apparently voluntary, because these people are travelling from Albania, which hosts the MEK, without Iranian identity documents, and due to their history of activity with the MEK they face prison and prosecution.

3. The activity of the MEK against the security of the people of Iran in cyberspace, which takes place from the territory of Albania, continues as in previous years, and there is still no serious action visible on the part of the government of Albania against such actions that endanger the national security of Albania.

4. On June 20 of this year, the MEK reacted violently against a legal action of the Albanian police to inspect their camp, which resulted in the injury of a number of police officers. Similar to this incident, when this organization was present in Iraq, also happened against the legal action of the Iraqi police to inspect the Ashraf camp. Unfortunately, there was no reaction to this clearly illegal action of the MEK in Albania.
List of signatures: