Former members of the MEK

MKO former members

Atefeh Sebdani: the world will know more about this fanatical, terrible cult

Following the premiere of the documentary, “The Children of Camp Ashraf”, Atefeh Sebdani, wrote about her feelings on her Likedin account. Sebdani is one of the four children of Mujahed parents whose life story is documented by the director, Sara Moien.

Atefeh has recently debuted with the gripping autobiography My Hand in Mine. It is a story about growing up with no one to hold on to but yourself, of abuses that are skillfully covered up by the Mujahedin-Khalq (MEK) and a society that fails to see the vulnerable child.

Read her post on Linkedin after Sara Moien’s film was finally played in the Swedish Goteborg Festival:
They say you should face your fears. I don’t know how many times I’ve done it in my life, or how many more times I’ll have to do it.

It was a full circle when the world premiere of our documentary happened to be in my hometown.
It feels strange that years of recording and hard work from the production have now led to this. That the world will know more about this fanatical, terrible cult. That I kept this project a secret for so long and now can finally talk about it!

The cult did everything in its power to stop the film, harass the festival and production, and smear us protagonists. They have put out terrible press releases about us and their fear is seeping through.

I’ve felt every emotion imaginable this week. Fear, sadness, shock, joy, euphoria. It’s been overwhelming.
But what an important and beautiful documentary film. Sold out every day and a historical chapter. Don’t miss it when more chances come next, keep your eyes open and please support us.

This is what I wrote on my Instagram the day before the premiere:
Will I feel scared tomorrow?

I wanted to lie and say no to you, that I am now invincible. For, I am not alone. For, history is carried by more people now.
But I will be in the same city where those who hate me the most are, the cult member I grew up with. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t care.

They say you should face your fears. I don’t know how many times I’ve done it in my life, or how many more times I’ll have to do it.
One thing at a time. Tomorrow, is a day to remember, a day to celebrate.

Many thanks to SVT Sara Moein Parwin Hoseinia Amir Vafa Linda Mutawi Hanif Bali Nima Sarvestani Iraj Mesdaghi Max Sebdani Jacobson Tell Aulin and so many more.

February 5, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Report on the Premier of “Children of Camp Ashraf” at the Goteborg Festival

The new documentary Children of Camp Ashraf was screened at the Gotenborg Film Festival in Sweden. On Wednesday, January 31, 2024, Sara Moin’s documentary was screened at the Goteborg Documentary Film Festival.

Children of Camp Ashraf deals with the story of 4 out of 900 children of Mujahedin_e Khalq (MEK) who were separated from their parents in 1991under the order of Masoud Rajavi and were smuggled from Camp Ashraf, Iraq to Europe and North America. Amir Yaghmai, Parvin Hosseini, Hanif Bali and Atefeh Sabdani are four of the 120 children of the MEK who were smuggled to Sweden at that time.

According to the information available on the festival’s website, the tickets for the first screening of the film at 5:45 pm on Wednesday were completely sold out about three weeks ago.

At the end of the movie, the crowd of Swedish spectators in the hall faced the tumult by the supporters of the MEK who were trying to convince the jury and the audience in the hall in non-Swedish languages that the film not based on truth.

https://dla.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/Children-Ashraf/Doc-Children-Ashraf-202402-1.mp4

Tumult by the supporters of the MEK after the doc’s screening

Hanif Heideranjad, a former member of the MEK and a journalist, wrote in his report on premier of the Children of Camp Ashraf: “Instead of being responsible and accountable, instead of addressing the subject and content of the film and responding to the facts and documents and instead of addressing the testimonies of four people interviewed in the film, the MEK resorted to blind and baseless accusations against these four people.”

On his Face Book account, Siamak Naderi, a former member of the MEK, refers to the “disturbance and hooliganism of the forces sent by the Cult of Rajavi”. According to the statements of Siamak Naderi, Amir Yaghmai told him in a call that due to the commotion of the supporters of Rajavi, the question and answer session that had been held with the presence of the film crew was disrupted in the cinema hall.

Mohammad Reza Torabi, a former member of the MEK and a former child soldier of the group, who now lives in Germany, published a video on social networks about the troubles that the supporters of the MEK made during the screening of Sara Moin’s documentary in front of the festival cinema and inside the screening hall. According to his report, the Cult of Rajavi used other child soldiers who are themselves victims of Massoud Rajavi’s cult of personality to disturb the cinema hall.

The documentary Children of Camp Ashraf is also scheduled to be played at the Tempo Festival in Sweden in March.

February 4, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Hanif Bali in the documentary Children of Camp Ashraf

The Hanif Bali is a Swedish politician of the Moderate Party and a former board member of the party whose life experience with the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) was documented by an Iranian-Swedish filmmaker in the documentary, Children of Camp Ashraf.

As one of the four case studies of Sara Moein’s new documentary, Hanif Bali arrived in Sweden when he was three years old. He spoke of his several moms in an interview with Manoto TV in 2016. “When I was told “Your mom”, I had to ask “Which mom?” because I had several moms,” he told Manoto.

He was one of the 120 children of MEK parents who were smuggled from Camp Ashraf, Iraq to Sweden. He was then moved between eight different foster families until he turned 18. He is a Swedish politician now because he is one of those few lucky MEK children who was not returned as a child soldier to Camp Ashraf to receive military training.

Hanif recounted the heartbreaking stories of his childhood as an orphan in a foreign country, in the interview. About his biological parents, he said, “Mothers were allowed to call their children only once a year. My father has called me only twice in my entire life.”

Children of Camp Ashraf narrates the story of the environmental scientist Amir, the actress Parvin, the politician Hanif and the influencer Atefeh who are four of over 700 children of MEK parents who were separated from their parents and smuggled from Iraq to Western countries under the order of the group’s leader Massoud Rajavi.

January 30, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Amir Yaghmai in the documentary, Children of Camp Ashraf

Former child soldier of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), Amir Yaghmai is one of the relief subjects of the documentary Children of Camp Ashraf. The documentary was directed by Sara Moein and will be played in two Swedish film festivals.

Barnen från Camp Ashraf is the Swedish title of the film which has documented the lives of Amir Yaghmai, Parvin Hossein Nia, Hanif Bali and Atefeh Sebdani as 4 examples of about 120 children of the MEK parents who were resettled in Sweden. The number of MEK children who were smuggled from Camp Ashraf, Iraq to European and North American countries mounts to over 700.

Amir Yaghmai was smuggled back to Iraq when he was 14 years old and he was immediately given a military uniform and recruited as a child soldier of the group’s so-called National Liberation Army.
Amir has so far revealed facts on difficulties, segregation and mental pressure he suffered during his stay in the cult-like structure of the MEK.

Today, Amir has a PhD degree in Eco-logy, working as an environmental scientist. He lives in Sweden with his family.

The documentary, which partly develops on Amir’s testimony of what it is like to escape from a destructive cult, will premiere on January 31st at the Gothenburg International Film Festival and on March 4 at the Tempo Documentary Festival.

January 27, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Atefeh Sebdani in the documentary Children of Camp Ashraf

As children, they were taken from their parents and sent abroad, with the aim of one day returning as warriors who would overthrow the current regime in Iran. The Children of Camp Ashraf follows four of the children that were sent to Sweden. One of them is the Swedish-Iranian author Atefeh Sebdani.

Atefeh Sebdani debuted last year with the gripping memoir My Hand in Mine. It is a story about growing up with no one to hold on to but yourself, of abuses that are skillfully covered up and a society that time and again fails to see the vulnerable child. But it is also a story of a stubborn burning vitality and the courage to finally break free.

The documentary, which expands on Atefeh’s vital testimony of what it is like to escape from one country and grow up in another, will premiere on January 31st at the Gothenburg International Film Festival and on March 4 at the Tempo Documentary Festival.

Sara Moien the director of Children of Camp Ashraf, narrates the story of the environmental scientist Amir, the actress Parvin, the politician Hanif and the influencer Atefeh are four of over 700 children of MEK parents who were smuggled from Iraq to Western countries.
These children have experienced traumatic lives in foster families, orphanages and as child soldiers in Camp Ashraf, Iraq.

January 22, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

EuroNews Albania report on Nejat Society Albania

The international TV channel Euronews Albania participated in the event organized by the Nejat Society Albania on the occasion of Yalda night this year. The TV reporters filmed and interviewed the members and activists of the society.

Euro News produced a video report titled “The Land of Refugees” which was aired many times on this network in the first days of the new year.
This program was a thought-provoking short documentary that started with the relocation of Iranian refugees in Albania and the entry of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The report finally covered the activities of Nejat Society Albania.

It is noteworthy that in the report called the MEK as terrorists. It also broadcast the statements of Nejat Society in full. This report even held the MEK responsible for the hacking of Albania’s internet systems and introduced them as a threat to Albania’s national security.

Broadcasting such a program from a television channel in Albania is unexampled and has never happened before.

In the past, the MEK had introduced the News24 TV channel, the Albanian-language channel of the Iranian regime, for airing an interview with Ali Zamani, a recently defected member of the group. It remains to be seen what the group will say about EuroNews Albania.

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/Euronews-MEK-Defectors-202401.mp4

to download the video file click here

January 6, 2024 0 comments

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 comments

Former members of the MEK

MEK defector: Rajavi builds enemies out of family members

Jahanshah Seyed Mohammadi is a former member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). He was a sergeant of the Iranian army when he was taken as a war prisoner by Iraqi forces. He was jailed in Abu Qhuraib for 8 months and then, he was taken to POW’s camp. As an army officer he was treated violently by Iraqi forces. He and his peers were under torture in the jails of Iraqi defense ministry where MEK agents were actively propagating a pro-democracy and humanitarian portrait of their group.

The MEK’s propaganda in Iraqi camp succeeded to convince Jahanshah to join the group. He recounts “Under the group’s propaganda, I left the hell of Baathists, and I entered the MEK that was allegedly people lover but actually it was an enclosed group that imposed severe ideological pressure on its members so that all members of a family inside the group would become enemies of each other.”

Jahanshah Seyed Mohammadi recalls some of the torturers of the MEK. “I do not remember the names completely, but I recall a woman named Maryam Akbari. She was one of the high-ranking members of the group whose duty was to coerce members to admit that their families are enemies.”

Under the cult-like ruling of Massoud Rajavi, even Maryam Akbari’s son had turned against her. Jahanshah recounts a day that Maryam’s son, grown up as a child soldier shouted at her and accused her of not being loyal to Massoud!

Jahanshah cites the son’s words to his mother: “In the past, you were obsessed with your marriage instead of being devoted to Rajavi. You just thought of your husband. You wanted a comfortable life in Europe. Today, I am one of the loyal forces of Rajavi. I am even ready to scarify my parents for Massoud Rajavi. I am a devotee of Rajavi.”

Based on Jahanshah’s testimony, ideological meetings in the MEK were mostly focused on family. The arguments presented by the manipulators working in Rajavi’s system tended to convince members that your spouse is your enemy, your siblings, your parents and your children are your enemies. “They did it in such a way that a son would never try to contact his parents inside the MEK.”
However, according to the evidence that are seen in the lives of defectors of the MEK, it is certain that as soon as a person leaves the Cult of Rajavi, he or she tries to reunite with family. “Every member who left the MEK was immediately attracted by his family,” Jahanshah says.

Jahanshah Seyed Mohammadi is from Kermanshah, Iran. He rejoined his family in his hometown after he escaped Camp Ashraf a decade ago. He is now a member of Nejat Society. His interview with Mehr News Agency was published a few days ago.

December 11, 2023 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Taleb Jalilian admitted torture because there was no other way to leave the MEK

Taleb Jalilian believed in the cause of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). He joined the group when he was young but after a while inside the group, he reached a state of mind that he was ready to be imprisoned and tortured as a procedure to leave the group.

Taleb Jalilian was a member of the MEK and a true believer of the group’s cause to fight the Iranian government. When the leader of the group Massoud Rajavi ordered the start of armed struggle against Islamic Republic, Taleb was seeking a way to receive military trainings, so he joined the Iranian army!

While being a soldier of the Iranian army, he tried to contact the group which was located in Iraq. It had been sheltered by Saddam Hussein who was at war with Iran at the time. After he was connected with the MEK, he was charged with the leaders to transfer the group’s forces through Iran-Iraq border.
Under the order of the leaders, he stopped his duty, and he left Iran for Iraq where he joined the MEK’s so-called National Liberation Army at Camp Ashraf. After a while things started to change.

“I still believed in the group’s cause,” he says in an interview with Mehr News Agency. “I was certain about it but gradually I began to hesitate, I began to have problems with the group, but I did not criticize the group at all. I just said that I could not keep on struggling.”

The cult-like atmosphere of the MEK and its oppressive ruling made Taleb Jalilian, and many other members of the group want to leave it but, this was a difficult path to take. Like many others, Taleb asked to leave the MEK but in response he was imprisoned in solitary confinement for a year, eventually interrogated and tortured by his own commanders.

“There was a judiciary system in the MEK,” he recounts. “The chief of the system was Nader Rafiee. The judge was Hassan Mohasel. Kak Adel, Nariman, Ebrahim Zakeri and Majid Alamian were guardians of the prison, interrogators and torturers.”
“They beat me to force me to get back to the group,” he says. “I was so terribly beaten by them that I could not hold my urine and stool for some time.”

Under the ruling of Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi, the torturers tied his hands and feet and blindfolded him. “I could hear Ahmad Kamyab who was beating me in nose,” he recalls. “He was an athlete. He was strong enough to beat me harshly.”

The MEK torturers told Taleb, “If you are determined to give up you have to sign a testimony to admit that you are a mercenary of the Iranian intelligence ministry, otherwise you will stay here until you rot.”

Taleb did not want to accept the deal. He had left his family, wife and his youth behind for the MEK’s cause. He had devoted his everything to the Rajavis, he could not admit the label: mercenary of the Iranian government.

He went on hunger strike until he was finally released. However, he was not allowed to leave the camp yet. Massoud Rajavi promised to deliver him and others like him to the Red Cross, but they were part of a deal with Saddam Hussein. They were delivered to Abu Ghraib prison and after a while they were exchanged with Iraq POWs who had been released by Iranian authorities.
Taleb was terrified. He was an officer of the Iranian army. He had escaped and joined an opponent military group. He was sure that he will be sentenced to death by an Iranian military court.
They were transferred from Iraqi border to Tehran while they did not trust their fellow countrymen. “I was waiting death penalty but after a month of imprisonment in Evin prison, they allowed us to visit our family and later we were freed,” he recounts.

Taleb began a new life in his hometown. He went to university, graduated and found a good job. He has a family and lives in Iran now.

December 9, 2023 0 comments

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:

the Nejat Society conference in Tirana

November 29, 2023 0 comments

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