What Do Iranians Think of the MEK?

Volume 3 Numbers 32&33 Date: Feb/Mar 2019

What do Iranians think of the MEK?

Ali Alavi

March 03 2019:

Reporters who talk about the MEK usually want to talk about the politics and the money.

They say, for example, that John Bolton supports them, that they get Inside this issue: money from Saudi Arabia, that they want regime change in Iran.

What do Iranians think of the 1 Sometimes these reporters even mention Iranians. MEK?

IT’S A MISTAKE TO 2, 3 When they do, they say the MEK doesn’t have much support in Iran be- TREAT THE MEK AS A cause of siding with Saddam Hussein in the war that ended in 1988. NORMAL OPPOSITION That’s all. GROUP Female Defectors Of The 3 Maybe they don’t say anything else because they don’t know anything MKO (MEK) In EU Parlia- else. ment. March 8th

THE SPECIAL MOMENT 4, 5 Maybe they don’t care what Iranians think of the MEK because they are TO SAY NO TO THE too busy talking about what America wants and what Europe wants from CULT OF RAJAVI (MEK, NCRI, …) Iran.

THE MOJAHEDIN-E 6, 7, Iranians have a lot to say about the MEK. KHALQ AREN’T AMERI- 8, 9 CA’S FRIENDS. EVEN IRANIANS WHO HATE Not just inside Iran. THE REGIME DON’T WANT MEK Not just ex-members.

INTERNATIONAL LIBER- 10, TY ASSOCIATION, 11 The Iranian opposition outside Iran has its own view of the MEK. MEK’S SO-CALLED CHARITY BREACHES Let’s hear more from Iranians about the MEK. RULES OF THE UK CHARITY COMMISSION MEK: Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) Mothers, the Forgotten Vic- 12 tims No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 2

IT’S A MISTAKE TO TREAT THE MEK AS A NORMAL OPPOSITION GROUP

Anne Singleton that he drowned as MEK claim. thoroughly, as did the journalists of Aljazeera, The Guardian, February 27 2019: Another example is Independent, Channel 4 News, NBC and other down the years When reporter Luisa Hom- the suspicious assassination of Mohammad Reza Kolahi – the (there is a very long list). They merich wrote her investiga- all asked the MEK to give their tive piece in Der Spiegel titled bomber of the Jomhouri Party headquarters in 1981 who was side, to comment on their find- ‘Prisoners of Their Own Re- ings and to have a voice. The bellion – The Cult-like Group killed in the Netherlands in Fighting Iran’, which exposes the grim situation for MEK members, I doubt she was expecting death threats to follow. After all, she was just doing her job. But that is ex- actly what the MEK reaction was. A Farsi language state- ment (written and published in Europe) promised her assassination. Nice.

Of course, for those who already know the MEK, this is not surprising. A timely re- minder that the MEK cannot disown its past and cannot stop repeating its past, came in an interview with Nabi Ahamadi, who escaped the cult in Albania recently. Ah- Anne Singleton madi was a close friend of MEK called them all agents of Malik Sharai who was killed 2015. After he left the MEK Ko- the Iranian intelligence services by MEK in June last year. He lahi was always going to be a and refused to talk. confirmed that Sharai was liability. He knew too much. So, one of the few remaining wit- why is nobody asking Maryam nesses to the mysterious Rajavi about this convenient Former MEK members death of 53 MEK members in death? Gholamreza Shekari and Hassan Camp Ashraf, Iraq. He also Heyrani from Albania, who were confirmed that Sharai had One reason of course is that the interviewed for the Der Spiegel asked to leave the group but MEK leader Maryam Rajavi re- article, revealed that not only was then held in solitary isola- fuses to engage with journalists, did the MEK refuse Hom- tion before being physically investigators, researchers. Any- merich’s request for interviews, eliminated by the MEK lead- one in fact who might get to the they sent armed guards to pre- ers. As a trained swimmer, truth about her organization. vent her getting near to Camp Ahamdi says it is implausible Indeed, Hommerich did her job Ashraf 3 in Manez. No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 3

This is not the response of a Female Defectors Of The MKO (MEK) In EU Parliament. March 8th normal political opposition. Nejat Society, March 14 2019: Female defectors of the Mujahedin Khalq Organizaion (the MKO/ Issuing death threats to jour- MEK/ PMOI) participated an inter-parliamentary committee meeting nalists is not the response of a organized by Parliament’s gender equality committee. normal political opposition. The conference that was held a day ahead of the International Women’s But then, there’s nothing nor- Day was focused on young women in politics as well as women’s real mal at all about an opposition power in politics and how to boost it. universally hated by their own Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee members debated with more than 20 national MPs from 15 EU member states during an people, inside and outside inter-parliamentary meeting on ‘‘Women’s power in politics’’. Iran. Opening the event chaired by Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (S&D, LT), EP Presi- dent Antonio Tajani declared: ‘‘We must keep working to have more It is a mistake to approach the women in politics, but also in businesses. It is a battle for dignity and MEK as a normal opposition. respect that must be fought by all of us.’’ Indeed, quoting MEK mem- EP Vice-President and Chair of the High-level group on Gender Equali- bers is like giving a platform to ty Dimitrios Papadimoulis added that even though women’s participation in politics was on the rise, ‘‘most of the important positions are still Flat Earthers or Creationists. It filled by men, and this has to change. is not balanced reporting. The The first-ever female President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, MEK is a unique entity. Not an delivered a keynote speech in which she recalled how she had to fight opposition, not a ‘group’ or for her place, both in life and in politics, and to break countless glass ‘organization’, descriptions ceilings. “The starting point is a change in mind-set: we need to build a which imply a certain kind of political culture which leads to women’s equal participation’’. Among the other participants, Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality accountable system and or- Commissioner Věra Jourová, EU foreign policy Chief Federica Moghe- der. rini and Women’s Rights Committee Vice-Chair João Pimenta Lopes advocated for more women in decision-making, pleaded for men to be Hommerich asked to speak involved in the fight for gender equality. with someone from the MEK Batoul Soltani, Homeira Mohammadi and Zahra Moini of Women As- sociation and Reza Jebeli of Aawa Association attended the meeting to (NCRI) but they did not reply. denounce violent attitudes of the MKO leaders against their rank and Instead, she spoke with some files. Batoul Soltani condemned the MKO authorities for they separat- of the many defectors who ed her six-month old and two-year old children from her and smuggled have escaped. Their stories do them to Europe in 1991. She stated that the MKO has violated the rights not differ much from the testi- of hers and her children’s. mony of other former mem- Homeira Mohammad Nezhad was a teenager when she joined the MKO. She addressed the conference on the psychological pressure she bers over thirty years: the endured inside the MKO. As a fourteen year-old girl she was not al- MEK is a cult that routinely lowed to contact her parents during the years she was a member of the and systematically abuses the group. human rights of its whole Zahra Moini gave testimony on forced divorce, forced celibacy, brain- membership. According to 50- washing sessions and violation of the most basic human rights in the year-old Gholamreza Shekari, MKO camps. this is achieved through ‘lies, Reza Jebeli also talked to a number of representatives warning about the potential violence of the MKO and the destructives role of the manipulation and fear’; a group’s lobbies to obstruct the future EU elections. methodology known as Cultic In the margins of the conference, the defectors tried to enlighten EU Abuse. parliament representatives offering them documented testimonies on the cult-like nature of the MKO. They called on the EU Parliament to rec- ognize the rights of defectors of the MKO as refugees submitting their For the record, the MEK is a letters of requests for medical care and living facilities. cult. Maryam Rajavi keeps The human rights violations committed by the MKO was condemned by slaves. It is that simple. the representatives. No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 4

THE SPECIAL MOMENT TO SAY NO TO THE CULT OF RAJAVI (MEK, NCRI, …)

Mazda Parsi, philosopher Hannah Arendt is This process has been the ex- best known for her works on act mechanism that has been Nejat Society, the problem of “evil”. Can one used in the MKO. do evil without being evil? This March 19 2019: was the puzzling question that The most recent defector of she grappled with when she Imagine terrorist extremists the MKO in Albania, Hadi reported for The New Yorker in attacking European citizens, Sani Khani admits that once 1961 on the war crimes trial of cutting their throats with knife, he was an MKO member, he Adolph Eichmann, the Nazi breaking their hands, removing was like a robot, not able to their eyes with fingers, and choose for a moment of his tearing their mouth open. Even operative responsible for or- private life. “We were brain- imagining such scenes seems ganizing the transportation of washed in daily meetings, our horrific but there are some millions of Jews and others to minds had to be drained of people out there who have various concentration camps. any personal thoughts during been trained to do so. A large daily and weekly brainwash- group of these trained terror- Arendt was remarkably sensi- ing sessions,” he says. ists are members of the Muja- tive about some of the deepest hedin Khalq Organization (the problems, confusions and dan- Actually, totalitarianism has MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/the Cult of gerous tendencies in modern sickened members in a dan- Rajavi). Coincidently, they live political life, many of them still gerous way that they submit in Europe now. with us today. The suffocating to the decisions that the dicta- atmosphere of the MKO camps tor (in this case Massoud Raja- The recent report published by –where members have to vi) makes for them. Members Der Spiegel revealed the above- pressure their peers abusing believe in what the top of the mentioned horrific facts about them verbally and physically in hierarchy says. They think that the evil of the MKO. The history their everyday life and are al- Massoud and Maryam Rajavi of the MKO has proved that ways prepared to attack out- are protectors of their rights committing such violent acts is siders —is a significant exam- and interests. “Massoud Raja- not far from the background of ple of complex and dangerous vi was idolized like a prophet, the group. There are numerous tendencies within a communi- a god for us,” Sani Khani says. reports and testimonies on the ty in the modern world. MKO’s armed and unarmed vio- Hanna Arendt thinks that the lence. Today, there are hun- Arendt believes that all aspects evil-seized members are in dreds of people in the MKO of the life under the totalitarian return the factors to consoli- camp in Albania who have been ruling systems are controlled date the absolute power of trained to commit these evil by the totalitarian leaders. The the dictator. “In politics obedi- deeds whenever they deem evil of the dictatorship leads ence and support are the them necessary. One may won- the followers to an abyss in same”, she suggests. To break der what makes such brutal which they practically lose their this awkward equation, she trainings as ordinary routine mental power. According to suggests a deep inner conver- choirs of a community. her, conscience of the citizens sation that awakes the indi- in a dictatorship is paralyzed; viduality of the citizen. The German born prominent they lose their individuality. No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 5

THE SPECIAL MOMENT TO SAY NO TO THE CULT OF RAJAVI (MEK, NCRI, …)

Those who defect the MKO Iran Interlink, The most recent defector of definitely had experienced the the MKO in Albania, Hadi Sani unique moment that they March 29 2019: Khani admits that once he was gained the ability to have this an MKO member, he was like a inner conversation. This spe- Mazda Parsi in Nejat Society robot, not able to choose for a cial moment is usually de- wrote about the Der Spiegel moment of his private life. clared in the firsthand ac- article by Luisa Hommerich. counts of former members’ ‘We were brainwashed in daily testimonies. For instance, for- Parsi focused on the revelation meetings, our minds had to be mer member of the group that MEK members are trained drained of any personal Bahman Azami, speaks of the in horrific individual combat thoughts during daily and moment he saw some children which includes cutting throats, weekly brainwashing sessions’, playing in the park over the breaking hands, removing eyes he says.” walls of the MKO’s camp in with the fingers and tearing Tirana, Albania. The kids took mouths open by hand. Parsi says it is possible to over- his mind to the life outside the come this through what Arendt group. He was eventually pun- Imagine terrorist extremists describes as “a deep inner con- ished by his female comman- attacking European citizens in versation that awakes the indi- dant for he had broken the this way, suggests Parsi, be- viduality of the citizen”. regulations of the cult that fore pointing out that these forbids thinking about normal terrorists currently live and When this happened to former life. However, the inner con- train in Europe now. MEK member Bahman Azami, versation had started for Bah- “He started doubting the man. He started doubting the “Today, there are hundreds of group’s cause questioning him- group’s cause questioning people in the MKO camp in self for all the years of his life himself for all the years of his Albania who have been he had lost in the group and he life he had lost in the group trained to commit these evil finally left the group”. and he finally left the group. deeds whenever they deem them necessary.” Parsi concludes that there is Although Massoud and Mar- always hope that this moment Referring to the work of Han- of realisation that inspires yam Rajavi have been making nah Arendt, Parsi examines efforts to remove the past and memories and experiences the role of brainwashing in the from the past will arise in the future of their followers’ lives MEK. in order to conquer their minds and hearts of MEK mem- minds, we should always be bers and inspire them to pur- “According to her, conscience sue a normal future. hopeful for the advent of that of the citizens in a dictatorship particular moment that revives is paralyzed; they lose their past memoirs and experiences individuality. in their minds and hearts that will inspire their willingness for This process has been the ex- a normal future. act mechanism that has been used in the MKO. Mazda Parsi No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 6

THE MOJAHEDIN-E KHALQ AREN’T AMERICA’S FRIENDS. EVEN IRANIANS WHO HATE THE REGIME DON’T WANT MEK Michael Rubin, each case, prognostications great difference between that the sky would fall, and “refuses to exclude” and National Interest, disaster would loom proved “supports,” Slavin is correct to March 29 2019: false. raise concern.

The Mojahedin-e Khalq Aren’t Sometimes, however, breaking Iranian Hatred for the Mojahe- America’s Friends conventional wisdom can din-e Khalq backfire. While legal argu- And even Iranians who hate ments about the necessity of I spent seven months in the their current regime don’t an authorization for the use of Islamic Republic of Iran during want the MEK. military force in Syria are valid, both the Rafsanjani and Khata- a precipitous withdrawal mi-eras while completing my The Trump administration is would likely be disastrous. Ph.D. dissertation. During that not afraid to defy long-held There has been tremendous time, I shopped daily in the conventional wisdom on U.S. mission creep in the North At- market, rode public transporta- foreign policy. With regard to lantic Treaty Organization tion, and met fellow university the Middle East, such disrup- (NATO) over the last several students from across Iran. Most tion can be a good thing: decades but defunding the were curious to meet an Ameri- Across administrations and for American-European military can with no family links to Iran. decades, U.S. policy has alliance would probably en- Most were cautious but keen to achieved only lackluster re- courage aggression rather talk about the antipathy to the sults. For example, Israeli- than ensure stability. And, Islamic Republic once they Palestinian peace has receded when it comes to the Mojahe- were out of buildings or vehi- even as successive administra- din e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian cles which could be easily tions poured billions of dollars opposition group, any cooper- bugged. For example, one cou- into a Middle East peace pro- ation and coordination—let ple from Ahvaz, in Tehran, cess. Nor has traditional diplo- alone support—from the Unit- complained while their twelve- macy contained the growth ed States would be disastrous. year-old daughter underwent and expansion of Iranian influ- treatment for brain cancer that ence across the region. The Trump administration, in the aftermath of the Iran- however, is reported- Iraq War, the regime built mosques but not hospitals. A Trump, however, has been ly reconsidering the pariah sta- professor in Isfahan would re- willing to break diplomatic chi- tus of the MEK within U.S. di- move the ignition wire from his na. He has recognized Jerusa- plomacy. Barbara Slavin, an car every time he parked at lem as Israel’s capital, cut American analyst night to deter car thieves. And, funding to the Palestinian Au- often apologetic to the Islamic a lawyer in Isfahan laughed at a thority, held Turkey’s Recep Republic, reports that “US ad- general amnesty for weapons Tayyip Erdoğan’s feet to the ministration talking points no taken home after the Iran-Iraq fire over the detention of U.S. longer exclude the Mujahed- War because they might be pastor Andrew Brunson and din-e Khalq as a potential re- needed in a future revolution. walked away from the Joint placement for the government Many Iranians asked about the Comprehensive Plan of Action of the Islamic Republic of Diaspora, and especially the (the JCPOA or Iran Deal). In Iran.” While there remains a No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 7

THE MOJAHEDIN-E KHALQ AREN’T AMERICA’S FRIENDS. EVEN IRANIANS WHO HATE THE REGIME DON’T WANT MEK exiled crown prince Reza Pah- members, including a Universi- striking at clubs, stores, police lavi. That did not mean they ty of Tehran political science facilities, minority-owned busi- were monarchists, but dec- student named Massoud Raja- nesses, factories, and symbols ades of being under the Islam- vi, coalesced what would be- of the state. ic Republic had left them crav- come the MEK, though it ing the past as a golden age. would take another seven The MEK participated whole- “Oh my shah, my shah, where years before the MEK would heartedly in the Islamic Revolu- is my shah?” one storekeeper declare itself to the wider tion. Ayatollah Ruhollah Kho- asked when a merchant world. meini, after all, led not a coher- walked by with spoiled bana- ent movement but rather a co- nas selling for far more than MEK ideology fused Marxism alition of disparate forces unit- what he said fresh bananas did and Islamism. They believed ed only in their opposition to pre-revolution. Whereas many both that God created the the shah. Once the common Iranians rightly castigate the world and that he set forth enemy fell, his coalition imme- shah’s police state and his societal evolution in which a diate began to turn on itself. dreaded SAVAK intelligence classless society would over- Khomeini welcomed MEK assis- service, they also acknowledge come capitalist inequity. Rajavi tance in fighting the shah, but that the successor VEVAK was and his fellow activists also he considered their blending of as bad if not worse. argued that Islam justified ter- Marxism with Islam to be sacri- rorism. Death during armed legious. He and his followers But there was only one item struggle, they said, was con- labeled Rajavi and the MEK that united Iranians inside sistent with Shiite glorification “hypocrites” and “unbelievers” Iran: absolute hatred of the of martyrdom. MEK militants and, the MEK, in turn, accused Mojahedin e-Khalq (MEK). I trained both with the PLO and Khomeini of hijacking a revolu- offered a brief history of the under Libyan leader Muammar tion that was not supposed to MEK here but, in sum, they al-Qaddafi. be about him. Some of the evolved out of reactionary an- worst post- ger at the shah’s more pro- They put their training to quick revolutionary terror in Iran was gressive agenda, especially el- use. In May 1972, shortly be- planned, executed, and claimed ements which would have pri- fore President Richard Nixon’s by the MEK. Khomeini’s re- oritized democracy and reli- state visit to Iran, the MEK gime responded just as brutal- gious equality above the dic- launched a series of bomb ly, with summary executions tates of Shiism. Following the attacks against American dip- and, in 1988, the wholesale shah’s 1963 crackdown, the lomatic and business targets, slaughter of alleged MEK pris- Islamist opposition splintered. including Pepsi Cola and Gen- oners. Many of the attacks While its older elements drew eral Motors. They also sought killed their intended targets, inspiration from the left- to assassinate the top U.S. but also many innocent Iranian leaning nationalist and ousted general in Iran. In 1973, they bystanders. Prime Minister Mohammad bombed the Pan-American Mosaddegh, younger mem- Airlines building, Shell Oil and What really broke any remain- bers concluded political re- assassinated the deputy chief ing popular support for the form impossible and embraced of the U.S. military mission. MEK among ordinary Iranians, armed struggle. These younger They also targeted Iranians: however, was their embrace of No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 8

THE MOJAHEDIN-E KHALQ AREN’T AMERICA’S FRIENDS. EVEN IRANIANS WHO HATE THE REGIME DON’T WANT MEK Iraqi president Saddam Hus- er deemed a terror organiza- their foreign supporters, they sein’s regime against the back- tion by the State Department, can be equally caustic to their drop of the Iran-Iraq War. For but that does not make them a critics. They usually throw flak most Iranians, the MEK- responsible partner. Yet they at anything unflattering pub- Saddam relationship is unfor- have cultivated a bipartisan lished about the group and rap- givable. The best analogy for coterie of officials who attend idly produce online rebuttals Americans would be to John their rallies and endorse Mar- filled with footnotes which, if Walker Lindh, the American yam Rajavi, their heir appar- tracked, do not prove what Taliban. While he may have ent. Among their supporters they purport to, even if the embraced a movement, which are National Security Advisor original source exists at all. sheltered Bin Laden and killed John Bolton and Trump lawyer Online trolls will also seek to thousands of American ser- Rudy Giuliani. Critics say such drown out the criticism and de- vicemen in Afghanistan, the hefty honoraria to attend and legitimize the MEK’s critics. casualties Iran suffered push- speak at MEK rallies amount to ing back the Iraqi invasion bribery. This is true in some But, their behavior aside, what were several orders of magni- cases but unfair in others, as is the harm of working with the tude higher. some of those who headline group or at least including MEK rallies may truly believe them in any discussion of Iran’s The Mojahedin-e Khalq are a MEK rhetoric. The MEK, after future after current Supreme bad bet all, is expert in telling officials Leader Ali Khamenei’s death? what they want to hear about The answer is simple: The spin Unable to win any support their program, and most sen- in Paris and Washington re- from Iranians inside Iran, the ior and elected officials neither mains entirely discordant with MEK has turned to the gullible have the expertise in Iran nor the sentiments of the Iranians and greedy: they are political the wherewithal to fact-check who matter most—those who chameleons. When in Iran, the spin. Other officials say the live under and resent the Islam- they were a combination be- MEK has proven themselves ic Republic. While most Irani- tween Islamists and social jus- and their infiltration of Iran by ans feel that the Islamic Repub- tice warriors. In Iraq, they exposing such facilities as the lic has gone off the rails and were secularists, basically covert nuclear enrichment cannot be reformed, they are Baathists without the Arab plant at Natanz and later the more apathetic than revolu- identity. And while in France, underground nuclear facility in tionary. After all, the last time they are democrats. In reality, Fordow. The trouble with Iranians supported a revolu- their behavior resembles a crediting the MEK for deep tion, they replaced one dictator cult, right down to dictating infiltration of Iran is that often with an even more brutal one where members live, whom MEK bombshell reports are and ended up fighting an eight- they should marry and di- wrong. It is far more likely that year-war which killed up to one vorce, and the rent-a- foreign intelligence agencies million people. Certainly, when mobs who populate their ral- like Israel’s utilize the MEK to a spark occurs, they will join in lies. launder intelligence rather the protests, but otherwise than expose it directly. most will stay on the sidelines Which brings us back to the and simply seek to provide for present: The MEK are no long- As generous as the MEK is to their families. No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 9

THE MOJAHEDIN-E KHALQ AREN’T AMERICA’S FRIENDS. EVEN IRANI- ANS WHO HATE THE REGIME DON’T WANT MEK

Herein lies the biggest prob- their reputation fair or unfair, tions. lem with treating the MEK as they must acknowledge the anything more than a pariah: perception which surrounds If the MEK is as popular as they Because Iranians hate the them. If they are Iranian patri- say, let them support such a group for its history, previous ots, therefore, and truly garner process from afar and then actions, and past allegiances, the support they claim, they compete at the ballot box. Alas, the current Islamic Republic would stand aside for now. the reason they so often seek will utilize the MEK to delegiti- The Islamic Republic may very to be spoilers now is they mize any movement or group well die with Khamenei for know—as does every Iranian— of which they are part. Indeed, two simple reasons: First, the that they will never get more many Iranians continue to in- regime elite may be unable to than 0.001 percent of the vote sist that the only thing worse form a consensus on a succes- in any election. than the regime under which sor and, second, even if they they suffer now would be the do, it is not certain the succes- Michael Rubin is a resident MEK. sor will be able to consolidate scholar at the American Enter- control. Many Iranians already prise Institute. The MEK may dismiss this as expect a provisional government will usher in a new con- propaganda, but it is not. Nev- https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middl ertheless, whether they think stitutional convention and in- e-east-watch/mojahedin-e-khalq-arent- ternationally-monitored elec- americas-friends-49547

Image: Reuters No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 10

INTERNATIONAL LIBERTY ASSOCIATION, MEK’S SO-CALLED CHARITY BREACHES RULES OF THE UK CHARITY COMMISSION Ebrahim Khodabandeh, tion does not hide the fact of the MEK, a terrorist cult that it is supporting the goals which has not only advocated March 14 2019: violence and bloodshed for regime change but killed 12,000 people in Iran since 1981. And through all these years, London has been the centre for the ille- gal financial activities of the MEK from its bogus charities to having a chain of buildings and even hotels and shops apparent- ly donated to these charities.

London is well known for having been a haven for the money laundry activities of the MEK over many years. Going back to the 1980s and the registered charity organization called “Iran Aid” which had the support of Massoud Kalani, a high-ranking member of the MEK and presenter on many British politicians and then their satellite television, asking for donations for the cult later proved to be a front group for the MEK set up for deception A charity organisation registered in London called the “International Liberty Associa- tion” has launched a wide- spread campaign under the ti- tle “Support the Voice of the People” to collect public donations for a television channel belonging to the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (aka MEK, MKO, NCR, NLA, Rajavi Cult).

Link to the MEK affiliated out- let: http://iliberty.org.uk/what- we-do/support-the-voice-of- the-iranian-peoples-human- rights/

London is well known for having been a haven for the money laundry ac- This so-called charity organiza- tivities of the MEK over many years No—32/33 Nejat Newsletter page 11

INTERNATIONAL LIBERTY ASSOCIATION, MEK’S SO-CALLED CHARITY BREACHES RULES OF THE UK CHARITY COMMISSION and fraud. Amazingly the point all trace of the money a terrorist – or even a political – British authorities let this chari- disappears. The MEK’s chari- group can register a charity to ty operate unchallenged and ties are registered in the collect donations to be used for the MEK opened and registered name of low-ranking mem- propaganda for its political – other charity organizations. bers of the cult who conven- especially extremist – agenda? iently vanish if and when Does the Charity Commissioner It should be clear to everyone there is any problem and approve such behaviour which

Is it customary in the UK that a terrorist group can register a charity to collect donations to be used for extremist agenda? who is familiar with the MEK violates its own regulations? that the purpose of these regis- then another charity is regis- Certainly, the MEK is not an un- tered charities is money laun- tered immediately to replace known group. The Charity Com- dry. Money is paid as donation it. The MEK is equally known mission should ensure that a full by cheques and cash in large for its people smuggling as investigation is conducted into sums and then transferred to well as money laundry. this blatant breach of its own the UAE (Dubai) for so called rules. charity spending and at that Is it customary in the UK that PERIODICAL PUBLICATION OF NEJAT SOCIETY About Nejat Society Address Nejat Society was founded by some former mem- P.O Box 14145/119 bers of the Rajavi cult to release their friends who Tehran, Iran are still mentally and physically captive inside the Cult, and assisting their suffering families waiting Fax: 88 96 10 31 for them in Iran.

Nejat Society [email protected]

www.nejatngo.org

Mothers, the Forgotten Victims

The campaign group ‘Mothers, the Forgotten Victims’, linked to Nejat Society, published the story of one mother. Her MEK son contacted his mother and tried to persuade her to send him money. He told her he was now blind and needed an eye operation in Baghdad to restore his sight. He gave her the details of a bank account in Europe to send money. Nejat Society recom- mended that she didn’t send money to an unknown account. So, the mother offered to come to

Baghdad and pay for his treatment directly at the hospital. The contact ended abruptly, and she didn’t hear from her son again. Instead, the son then tried to recruit his sisters – who were living abroad – telling them their mother had been arrested and was under torture in Iran. This didn’t work either. This mother said she was sure that her son was doing this under pressure it was so unlike him. Some of the former MEK women members wrote that perhaps the biggest crime Ra- javi committed against them was not the unnecessary hysterectomies but taking their children from them at very young age.