Former members of the MEK

MKO former members

Nejat Society Letter to Ms. Fariba Hashtroudi

Dear Ms. Hashtroudi,

Happy New Year,

First of all, we would be pleased to send you congratulations on the publication of your book about your experiences and memories within MKO, and the clear expression of the reasons of your defection. We hope you to be successful in your continual good activities.

We wrote you the letter since you spent several years with MKO and are, to some extent, familiar with its nature and function and according to your knowledge you decided to defect from NCRI. We believe that such a knowledge puts you in a position where you should do your best to help the victims of the organization, in an absolutely humane action, without any political tendency.

As you are well aware, MKO has used psychological techniques that are practiced in all cults, to recruit members, it has captured a large number of people mentally and physically in Ashraf, Iraq. These people need emergency aid and their families seek the help of those like you.

The intellectuals including you who have realized MKO’s labyrinth personally, are able to do some actions to save the captives and return them to the free and open world. The captured members of Ashraf haven’t had any contact with the outside world for years and are manipulated by the self- criticizing meetings under the sever physical control. We would like to ask you to step up your efforts regarding your possibilities in Paris, in order to solvate the true victims of the ambitions of the power worshipers. The families of those dear ones appreciate you and wish you the best.

Sincerely Yours,

Nejat Association ,April 22nd, 2008

May 3, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Nejat Society visited three defectors

In April 2008, three other defectors of MKO who were installed in TIPF, returned to Iran via International Red Cross and Red Crescent. They described their adventures with MKO in a visit with Nejat Society on April 23rd.

Mr. Nasouri who was mentally captured by MKO for 18 years:

I am Hassan Nasouri, I was born in 1963, Bushehr. I got acquainted with MKO Mr. Nasouri in 1979 via journals, meetings and my friends. In 1981, when the armed struggle started, my connection was cut. In March 1988, I went to Turkey legally. Before my departure I could watch the organization’s program on their TV channel, in Bushehr. In Turkey I called the organization’s linker and asked for joining them. I could reach Iraq that June. After staying in Bagdad for a few days I arrived in Karkuk where I received military training for Chelcheragh Operation and then Eternal Light Operation. Following the operations I returned to camp Ashraf. I was tank driver in Perl Operation (in which the Iraqi Kurds were massacred in 1991) MKO used the war situation to kill the Kurds who had upraised against Saddam Hussein.

Before the American invasion my problem with MKO was focused on their ideology but I couldn’t express any opposition. We were supposed to attack Iran in case of American invasion to Iraq but instead we were absolutely submitted to Americans that caused me express my critics against MKO who was trying to find another Saddam Hussein among the Americans. Therefore, I decided to defect but I was also afraid of going to TIPF where I had a terrible imagination of. When I announced my defection they held many meetings for me during an entire month and did their best to dissuade me. Finally, I threatened them that I would escape or commit suicide or homicide and then they accepted to deliver me to Americans. At last, I could enter TIPF in the early 2007. I was in TIPF for two years and could contact my family from there and in March, 2008 I succeeded to return to Iran after 20 years.

During the period I was in MKO, I asked for contacting my family several times and I was told that it was impossible. Just two months before my defection they asked me to call my family after 18 years for the first time but later I found out that was only for recruiting new members and financial support. I told them that I had no track of my family and they brought me my family’s numbers. I wasted twenty years of my life in MKO where I saw my ideals but ultimately I figured out that MKO was not what I thought of and now, here I am in Iran and I should start from the beginning.

As a former member of MKO who has experienced the political and military stages of MKO, I believe that if the door of Ashraf was open to Europe, more than seventy percent of the members would leave the group.

I am really sure that Rajavi is well aware of such a fact so he does his best to maintain Ashraf.

In the organization, Rajavi is either a solution to problems or a problem maker. In order to show that he can solve problems, he has to work in an isolated and enclose place like Ashraf otherwise the problems are presented. He recruits the members and attracts the attention of the authorities by playing roles and even ordering the members to play roles. I can remember the time when Fariba Hashtrudi had come to Ashraf, they had done such decorations in order to satisfy her and not to show her any contradiction but they never imagined that finally there would be a day that she would stop to take look at her behind scene and leave the NCRI and finally call the MEK as liars.

May 1, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

U.S. Protected Iranian Exiles in Limbo in Iraq

(Anne Garrels reporting from Baghdad) RENEE MONTAGNE, host: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I’m Renee Montagne. STEVE INSKEEP, host: And I’m Steve Inskeep. Good morning. We’re about to bring you up to date on a group that’s called a terrorist organization or even a cult. It’s called those things but it’s under the protection of the U.S. military. It’s a group of Iranians. They want to overthrow Iran’s government and they are in exile right now in Iraq.

We’re going to hear this morning from both sides of the border about one of the stranger stories to emerge from the war. The story centers around the Iranian exiles who call themselves the People’s Mujahideen, or MEK. Their U.S.-protected camp is called Camp Ashraf.

NPR’s Anne Garrels begins with the story of one woman who escaped them. ANNE GARRELS: Last spring after living in Camp Ashraf for half her life, 40-year-old Batul Soltani made a run for it. She fled to the nearby American military compound. Though U.S. soldiers protect Ashraf from outside attacks, Batul says they do nothing to stop the MEK from continuing to persecute its members.

Ms. BATUL SOLTANI (Former Member, MEK): (Through translator) The MEK leadership remains in control in the camp and we had no choice but to stay. We were under psychological and physical pressure. The U.S. does nothing inside Ashraf. They allow the MEK to terrorize the inmates.

(Ms. Soltani)

GARRELS: Until the U.S. invasion, the MEK carried out cross-border attacks against the government in Tehran. It also helped Saddam Hussein target his enemies at home. The new Iraqi government made up of those former enemies has no love for the MEK. After the U.S. invasion, American soldiers disarmed the militants and set up checkpoints around the camp to protect its members from Iraqi retribution.

Some in the Bush administration and Congress believe the MEK could be a useful ally against the Iranian government, though U.S. officials say that view is no longer widely held. They and the Iraqi government would like the militants at Camp Ashraf to leave the country. A few hundred have fled but Batul says most cult members cannot act freely, either because they’ve been brainwashed or because of MEK pressure.

Ms. SOLTANI: (Through translator) I never saw the Red Cross or American soldiers inside the camp. The MEK leadership manipulates anyone who comes in so they see only what they want them to see.

GARRELS: Recruited in Tehran as a teenager, Batul says her dreams of overthrowing the Iranian government turned into a nightmare. Once she and her young husband arrived in Ashraf, all couples were ordered to divorce. Her children were taken away.

Ms. SOLTANI: (Through translator) My son was six months old and my daughter was five. They said you can’t keep your children here. We will send them overseas to Europe. I have not seen my children in 16 years.

GARRELS: MEK commanders also took away the members’ documents and warned them they would be arrested by Saddam’s security if they tried to leave. Then after the U.S. invasion, Batul says MEK leaders warned them the Americans would kill anyone who left.

Batul says she stayed on hoping if she were a dutiful member she would eventually be reunited with both her children and her husband. Finally a year ago she stole a car, made a dash for a U.S. checkpoint, and was given refuge by the American military. She’s now searching for her children.

Ms. SOLTANI: (Through translator) I am asking Iranians all over the world if they know anything about my children. The Mujahideen won’t tell me where they are.

GARRELS: Defectors say the Mujahideen keep those wishing to leave out of sight. Asghar Farzin says he was one of the lucky ones. An American colonel during an initial search of Ashraf five years ago discovered him by chance in an MEK prison.

Mr. ASGHAR FARZIN (MEK Defector): One day someone knocked my door. I saw American commander because I can explain for him in English, he sat next to me and listened to me.

GARRELS: With the help of the American officer and the Red Cross, he was able to leave Ashraf. But he says others still there need help and counseling.

Though they acknowledge a significant number of cult members are trapped, U.S. officials speaking on background say it’s not safe for American soldiers to go into the camp. U.S. and U.N. officials say they cannot force members to go back to Iran against their wishes. But the U.N. has not found other countries willing to take them. The clock is ticking.

Under a new status of forces agreement, the Iraqi government will likely take control of Ashraf by the end of the year. Caught at the end of a press conference, General Douglas Stone, who’s currently in charge of Ashraf, made it clear he would like this mess to go away. He said it’s going to be discussed with the Iraqis, adding, things like this don’t go on forever, right? But after five years he still has no solution.

Anne Garrels, NPR News, Baghdad.

NPR News Morning Edition April 28, 2008

April 28, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Efforts to Return Exiles to Iran Problematic

(Mike Shuster reporting from Tehran)RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

Efforts to return exiles to Iran problematic Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Iran’s government has regarded Camp Ashraf warily, but some Iranians are helping MEK members get back home. NPR’s Mike Shuster reports from Tehran. MIKE SHUSTER: Like Batul Soltani and thousands of others, Arash Sametipour could’ve been trapped in Camp Ashraf all these years. He joined the MEK in the 1990s, and in 2001 he was sent from Iraq into Iran to assassinate an Iranian general. The plot failed, he lost his right hand in a grenade explosion and was imprisoned in Iran. Now he runs the Nejat Society in Tehran, a non-governmental group that helps former members of the MEK who want to get out of the organization. Recently Sametipour was in Baghdad to meet with some of them, who he agrees are in an impossible situation. Mr. ARASH SAMETIPOUR: Since these people, they did not have any legal documents and the situation in Iraq was really critical for them, we decided to provide them any humanitarian help that we could, and I think we were successful in that point.

SHUSTER: Of the MEK militants in Camp Ashraf, more than 200 have left the camp on their own and have been living in the transitional camp the U.S. set up nearby. These people, Sametipour says, want to leave the MEK but don’t necessarily want to return to Iran.

Iran’s government still views the MEK as a threat and wants to see the group disbanded, according to Ali Resaid(ph), the director of the North America department of Iran’s foreign ministry.

Mr. ALI RESAID (Iranian Foreign Ministry): They are a very serious and very dangerous terrorist group and it is recognized by European and even the U.S. government.

SHUSTER: Iran’s government would like to take custody of the leaders of the MEK and put them on trial, says Sametipour.

Mr. SAMETIPOUR: They were involved in brainwashing process and terrorist Arash Sametipour operations inside Iran. Iranian authorities have announced that these people must be prosecuted in Iran. I think a list of 50 to 60 people are there who Iranians want them. They want them to be prosecuted.

SHUSTER: But it is the position of the Iranian government that the vast majority of those who live in Camp Ashraf are free to return to Iran without punishment, says Ali Resaid.

Mr. RESAID: For those of them who have repentance of their activities, also those of them who are not seriously involved with any assassination or these sort of things, we have amnesty for them.

SHUSTER: The Nejat Society has tested Iran’s offer of amnesty. Arash Sametipour says his group has helped repatriate several hundred former MEK members, and he says they are now living normal lives in Iran.

Mr. SAMETIPOUR: Right after fall of Saddam Hussein, Iranian government had announced officially that there is an amnesty for those who are willing to return home. We have talked to many authorities over here and this is a truth that, you know, when they come back over here to Iran there won’t be any prison waiting for them. They can just live like any other citizen.

SHUSTER: When Sametipour was in Iraq recently he concluded that the U.S. is not really sure what it wants to do with those in Camp Ashraf. Some in the U.S. government, he fears, may still be tempted to use them as a bargaining chip with Iran.

That may also be the case between the government of Iran and Iraq. The issue was on the agenda when Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, traveled to Baghdad in early March for talks with Iraq’s president, Jalal Talibani. Iraq’s government may simply take custody of these people if they are released by the U.S. In that case their fate may figure significantly in the future of relations between Iraq and Iran.

Mike Shuster, NPR News.

NPR: Morning Edition, April 28, 2008

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89990562

April 28, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Repatriating after being paid by the MEK

Nejat Society Interviewed Mr. Mansour Asari

Nejat Association had talked with Mr. Mansour Asari who recently defected from MKO and joined his family in Iran, at Nejat NGO’s Tehran office: I’m Mansour Assari, the son of Mojtaba. I was born in Khansar, in 1972. In July, 2000, I was recruited by MKO in Turkey where I had gone to reach Europe. Then they sent me to Camp Ashraf.

In 2004, after the organization was disarmed, I found an opportunity to leave MEK and join TIPF.

Immediately after I stepped in Ashraf, I figured out that I have nothing in common with MKO’s ideology and functions. Every thing was contradictory to what I saw on MKO’s satellite TV but I was afraid of expressing my idea because they would cause too much pressure on me in their so called current operations (self-criticizing meetings).

I was told, in Turkey, hat the exit of the organization is always open but in camp Ashraf, Masud Rajavi and Nasrin ( Mahvash Sepehri) told clearly that any one who is willing to leave the organization,has to confess ,in front of the cameras,that he or she is the agent of Iranian Intelligence Ministry and then write and sign what she/ he has said. There fore, I kept quiet waiting for a chance to leave.

In TIPF, no country would like to receive us since the MKO is on the terror list. In January 2008,I left TIPF, without any money and return to Ashraf since the group had announced that any one who wants to go to Europe ,they would give him money. We were 5 people who returned to Ashraf. There, Zhila Deihim,Reza Moradi,Mohammad Ali Salehi and Hamid Araste and Yousef Anbaz encountered us. We stayed with them for 21 days. Mohammad Ali Salehi talked to me to convince me to stay there, he took me to the entrance part. Ne’mat Oulaiee and Adel ( Mohammad Sadat Darbandi) tried to keep me but finally I said to Batul Rajaiee:” I am insistent to leave “ they paid 1800 $,took my signature and receipt. I left Ashraf for Turkey where the defectors of the organization helped me be settled in Istanbul.

I called my family and explained everything. A few days after the Iranian’s New Year, my parents came to Istanbul to visit me. They were always crying during our visit but I had no feeling. I couldn’t recognize them at first, because they had became too old. After a while , I felt my feelings starting to revive and began to cry. Up to that time, I had decided not to return to Iran since I thought it was treason to the organization. But the logic was replacing my fanatic cult-like thoughts. I felt that I loved my family and country. When I was assured that I would have no trouble in Iran,I decided to return with my family, to Iran. They were ready to help me go to Europe but I wanted to go nowhere except Iran. I arrived in Iran this March without any problem. I plan to work here, building my new life.

In my opinions, all those who are in MKO, are captives and deserved to be released . I was imprisoned in Ashraf psychologically and physically. In fact the fear of the peer pressure and mental bars, had kept me in Camp Ashraf. Most of the members of Ashraf have no way out. It is even difficult to leave Ashraf and Join the TIPF. When you are kept in a place like Ashraf, you feel the world is limited to that only place. They try to inspire the members the illusion of being the superior people of the world.

As a matter of fact, I had an extraordinary experience. I had totally forgotten all my family, emotions and love. Visiting my family helped me a lot ,find my normal life style reviving my human emotions. Now, I realize why MKO is terrified by family contacts, why the cults see the families as their enemies. The reality is that MKO paid the money to Mr. Assari and some other defectors to leave Iraq. But the question is that why MKO didn’t do such a thing in all those previous years and didn’t try to help the other separated members who had lost a big part of their life. At the first view one may think that MKO doesn’t want them to return to Iran . But this reason is not accceptbale since they could help the defectors in the past too but they didn’t . The reason of such a change in MKO’s behavior cant be anything but the trip Mr. Khodabande took in Iraq and the meetings he had with Iraqi authorities discussing the MKO affairs in Iraq and the result was the foundation of SFF (Sahar Family Foundation ) . this action will absolutely be a changing point in MKO’s activities in Iraq. At the present time the most terrifying problem for MKO is the members’ joining to SFF since the testimonies made by these people will from an important part of MKO’ criminal case in Iraqi courts.

April 23, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Rerepsentavie of Anjomane Solh in Oslo meets with Ms.Erika Man MEP

Oslo, Friday, 11.04.2008 — Mr.Ghasem Ghezi, the representative of Anjomane Solh Norway along with his delegation met honourable member of European Parliament, Ms.Erika Man at the sideline of Peace Conference on South Asia recently held in Oslo, the capital of Norway. The purpose of the talks was to introduce the organization specially activities of the Anjoman with regard to human rights and secondly, explaining about disaffected people from Mojahedin Khalig (MOK) in Iraq. Mr.Ghasem Ghezi presented a document about the issue and urged for necessary assistance to the people

Mr.Erika Mann welcomed the delegation of Anjomane Solh and paid essential overview on the document and assured that she would forward it to the relevant people at the EU parliament. She also appreciated the work of Anjomane Solh specially helping the disaffected people by highlighting their issue.

Solh Association, Oslo,

April 21, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Appeal to supporters of MKO/MEK

We are former members of MKO who are appealing to you and your colleagues to use your influence and contacts to allow members of MKO in camp Ashraf the opportunity to see their families.

Some politicians and lawmakers have chosen to stand with the MKO and have spoken on their behalf in different occasions (like removing them from the terrorist list, falsely presenting them as a “third alternative”, and so on).

We are asking that you make an appeal on behalf of people who are left without a voice in their plight.

As you know there are more than 3000 members of MKO stationed in Iraq on an isolated location called Camp Ashraf (or Ashraf City as is also known). Here they have been imprisoned since 2003 after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

As relations between the governments of Iran and Iraq got better, some attempts were made by families of MKO members in camp Ashraf to arrange for a visit with their sons & daughters. These attempts were made primarily by the parents or siblings of the members in camp Ashraf. The very first attempts started as early as 2003, some months after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Family members had to travel on very harsh and dangerous roads to reach Camp Ashraf which at that point was under the control of the United States Army.

Today however the MKO have made it impossible and downright dangerous for family members to get anywhere near Camp Ashraf. Parents and siblings who haven’t met their loved ones in years or decades are turned away at the gates under threats and abuse. The Mojahedin accuse them of being “spies” for the Iranian regime, even though all they want to do is meet their sons and daughters after years of separation.

This matter goes beyond politics and is just a basic matter of human rights. We ask respectfully that you make any effort possible to convince the leaders of the MKO to do the right thing in this matter and allow the families to visit their loved ones in camp Ashraf.

Please voice your concern on this matter to the MKO and demand that they allow the families of their own members to reconnect with their parents and siblings.

Here are some articles and videos highlighting this issue:

Children of ‘the resistance’ – Canadian National Post article from 2006

Parents of MKO members in Camp Ashraf – Baghdad 2003 – YouTube Video / Parents getting denied to enter Camp Ashraf and accused of being agents of the Iranian Regime

By Iranpeyvand on Apr 17, 2008

April 19, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

A group of Mojahedin Khalq defectors arrived in France

Reported by BBC originally in Persian, a group of Mojahedin-e Khalq’s detached members arrived in France. It is the first of a number of groups that managed to leave Iraq for a Western country. Defectors arrived in France

In the past months, groups of separated members have struggled to get to Western countries through neighboring countries. Many of them were arrested especially in Turkish borders and were returned to Iraq. Following Saddam’s fall, a big number of MKO’s members held within the Camp Ashraf against their will, found the opportunity to escape the cult and take refuge in an American-run temporary facility not properly accommodated for the huge number of defectors.

A reported number of 380 have already returned to Iran under the auspices of the ICRC but there are still many who have filled to be granted refuge in Western countries.

BBC persian, April 06, 2008:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2008/04/080405_bd-mko.shtml

Link to Aria Association report:

http://iran-interlink.org/fa/?mod=view&id=4281

April 6, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

First Series of Survivors of MeK’s Camp Ashraf in Iraq Arrive in France

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — At a press conference in Paris on April 5, 2008, the first series of survivors of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation, aka the Rajavi cult or Saddam’s private army, announced their escape from Camp Ashraf in Iraq and their arrival in Europe.

the first series of survivors of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation, aka the Rajavi cult or Saddam's private army, announced their escape from Camp Ashraf in Iraq

The Mojahedin, which is proscribed as a foreign terrorist entity in the US, UK, EU and Canada, was bombarded and disarmed by the US army back in 2003 and have been confined since in Camp Ashraf in Iraq.

Ms. Nasrin Ebrahimi, 26 years old, who served in the group for over 10 years explained how two years ago she used a military vehicle to escape the terrorist run camp and take sanctuary with the American Army. She alleged that Marjan Akbari, daughter of Bashir Akbari, was killed by the organisation about two years ago.

Mr. Jamshid Charlang, 49 years old, alleged imprisonment and torture by the Mojahedin for criticising the group’s leaders. He said during his imprisonment he witnessed the torture and murder of Parivis Ahmadi in an MKO run prison inside Camp Ashraf. The MKO prevented Charlang from seeing his wife and child for twenty years. After the fall of Saddam he escaped and reached the American army camp before arriving in Paris.

Ebad, 33 years old, and Alireza, 36 years old, were among others talking about the situation of Camp Ashraf which is protected by the American Army, but is still run internally by the uniformed military structure kept intact during the past five years.

In February 2008, Massoud Khodabandeh of Iran-Interlink reported from Baghdad after several meetings addressing the issue of foreign terrorism in Iraq. Iraq’s government demand to expel all 3,000+ Camp Ashraf captives is stalled because no western country will de-proscribe the group so that asylum can be granted them. In the interim, Sahar Family Foundation was established in Iraq to help disaffected Mojahedin members who renounce terrorism find asylum, be reunited with their families and integrate back into mainstream life.

The Conference was organised by the Association for the Protection of Iranian Refugees in France. According to BBC reporting, the Association’s spokesman Javad Firoozmand said this is only the first group to arrive in France after the establishment of Sahar Family Foundation

Prnews wire,

April 6, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

former members of the MKO, plead for justice against the organisation

Asghar Farzin, Reza Sadeghi, and Ali Biglary, former members of the MKO, plead for justice against the organisation to the Iraqi judicial authorities and urge them to deal with the situation in Ashraf camp

I Asghar Farzin was born on 1965 in Abadan, Iran. On 1987 I moved to Turkey to continue my studying in that country. I was acquainted with the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MKO) in the university. They spoke about freedom and justice and also Islam and recruited me into their organisation. The same year, that is December 1987, I was sent to Iraq for a short visit and I returned back to Turkey. The following year I was asked to go to Turkey for a short visit again and I accepted. But this time my passport was taken away from me and they did not let me go back to Turkey. I had to stay in Ashraf camp until the year 2003.

When the coalition and American forces occupied Iraq, I took refuge with the Americans and on February 2004 I moved to a camp called TIPF. On March 2005 I went to Iran to my family in Bushehr on my own request. Now I have come back to Iraq to file a lawsuit against the MKO in Iraqi judicial system.

Consequently 17 years of my life has been wasted and I was kept in Iraq against my will with no contact with my family and if the Americans had not occupied Iraq, God knows how long I had to stay in Ashraf camp. The leaders claim that the entry door of the organisation is closed but the exit is always open. They seduced me and it appeared that they take me to Iraq for a short period but then they said that the exit is only open to the Abu-Ghraib prison in Iraq. Many discontented members had been sent to Abu-Ghraib, therefore I chose to stay in the organisation.

During this period anytime I demanded to contact my family in Iran or I requested to leave the organisation they put me under severe psychological pressure to the point that I would withdraw my request.

The MKO has used seduction as well as compulsion to take away many years of my life when I was young and made me to do forced unpaid labour all through these years. Could a value be estimated for many years of my lost life and my poor heath state at the moment? I urge the Iraqi authorities to deal with the case of the inhabitants of Ashraf camp too who are subject to constant brainwashing and who have no contact with the outside world. I request that the leaders of the MKO face trial since they have abused the basic human rights of their own members.

————–

I Gholam-Reza Sadeqhi Jebeli was born on 1961 in Esfahan, Iran. On 1986 I left Iran to Pakistan and then to Canada and I stayed in Toronto. I married there and I have a son called Arian. After the first Gulf war I was recruited into the MKO and I used to participate in their meetings. On March 1994 I started to work with the organisation fulltime and I used to do street collection and recruiting other people. Then the organisation sent me to the USA and I was a fulltime member over there too. Then I was asked to go to Iraq for a short visit. I travelled to Iraq from New York on September 1997. But in Iraq they took my passport and did not let me go back to Canada again. So I had to stay there against my will until April 2006 when I left the organisation and moved to TIPF. There I realised that my son who had been taken to Iran by a friend when I was going to Iraq is still in Iran and his mother is badly missing me and her. She had gone through hard psychological experiences all through these years and she was hospitalised as the result of enormous mental pressure since she had no trace of either me or our son. The organisation never let me have any sort of contact with them.

Then I decided to go to Iran voluntarily since my son was there. I managed to send him back to Canada to his mother. Now although I can go to Canada myself but I decided to come to Iraq to file a lawsuit against the MKO for wasted many years of my life and my shattered family. The fact is that the organisation seduced me to go to Iraq and forced me to stay there and did not let me to have any contacts with my family in Canada or in Iran. I should also add that when I announced inside the organisation that I would definitely want to despatch from the MKO and the psychological pressure had no use, they assaulted me physically which left me a broken finger which is still noticeable.

—————–

I Ali Biglari was born on 1969 in Kermanshah, Iran. During the Iran-Iraq war I was arrested by the Iraqi forces. On October 1989 the MKO people including Mehdi Abrishamchi came to the camp of the prisoners of war in Iraq and recruited me telling many lies and giving false promises. On the year 2000 I announced that I wanted to dispatch the organisation and consequently they put me in solitary confinement. The condition to get out of the jail was to announce that I regretted my previous request to leave the organisation. Eventually they handed me over to the Iraqi security forces and they took me strait to Abu-Ghraib prison under the charge of illegally passing the boarder. In the prison I requested to meet with the ICRC but they paid no attention and there was no trial either. I was a POW and I was registered with the Red Cross and had an ID number, so illegally passing the boarder had no significance with my case, but they used to say openly that I had to either go back to the MKO or stay in prison without any trial. I was in prison up to the second Gulf war when I was handed over to the Iranian officials and I went back to my family on March 2003. Now I have been married for three years and I have a two years old daughter. I have returned to Iraq to claim for 18 years of my life which was wasted in Iraq and the physical and psychological damages that I suffered both inside the organisation and inside Abu-Ghraib prison. Mehdi Abrishamchi and others who came to the camp of PWOs in Iraq seduced me and showed me a false image of the MKO. They first told me that I can leave anytime I wanted to but I ended up in Abu-Ghraib prison. They imprisoned me and tortured me inside the organisation merely because I wanted to depart and they left the rest of the work for Saddam’s security forces. The mental pressure on me was so high that I once committed suicide inside the organisation but fortunately I survived.

I have come to Iraq to urge the Iraqi judicial authorities to deal with many crimes of the MKO in Iraq against its own members and also deal with the situation of those mentally and physically captured in Ashraf camp and help them.

——————

Contact (Iraq):

saharfamily@yahoo.com

Tel: +964 – 7808481650 (Arabic and Farsi)

Contact (outside Iraq):

Sahar

BM 2632

London

WC1N 3XX

U.K.

Tel: +44 – 2076935044 (English only)

April 4, 2008 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts