Iranian protestors call on Albania to shut down Ashraf-13 MKO camp

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
30 Jun 2023 17:05

The protesters are stating that the camp is a hub for money laundering and human rights abuses, and protestors released a communiqué asking Albanian authorities to put MKO terrorist cult leaders to trial.

Iranian protesters and relatives of members of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) take part in a protest outside the Turkish embassy in Tehran, which represents Albania’s interests in the Islamic Republic, on June 30, 2023. (Tasnim News Agency)

Iranian protesters and relatives of Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) members are calling on Albania to shut down the camp that encourages anti-Iran elements and to make preparations to repatriate their family members.

Members of the independent civil society organization Nejat Society stood outside the Turkish embassy in Tehran, as it represents Albania’s interests in the country, and applauded raids by the Albanian police on the Ashraf-3 camp in the capital Tirana.

The Ashraf 3 camp was constructed in 2019 by about 2,500 Iranian exiles who were first accommodated in several places. The camp, laid out over a 40-hectare (100-acre) region, hosted 127 dwellings.

Demonstrators protested that the camp is a hub for money laundering and human rights abuses, and released a communiqué asking Albanian authorities to put MKO terrorist cult leaders on trial.

Mustafa Beheshti, a former member of the organization, revealed on Vox News Albania this week that men and women inside the camp face human rights abuses regularly, including rape.

They also urged officials not to fall for the cult's psychological warfare trap of the MKO.

Albania's wake-up call

Ebrahim Khodabandeh, the head of Nejat Society, expressed, “After seven years of supporting the MKO, the Albanian government came to realize that its national security is more significant than anything else", as he said that families of MKO members are requesting permission from Albanian officials to visit the country and release them from the camp.

The Ashraf-3 camp was raided recently for orchestrating cyber attacks against foreign institutions, and authorities seized 150 computer devices linked to terrorist activities.

Albanian Interior Minister Bledi Cuci and the head of the national police, Muhamet Rrumbullaku, confirmed that MKO terrorists and police officers were injured in the raid.

Reports claim that the one MKO member killed in the raid was a high-profile commander of the terrorist group called Abdolvahhab Faraji, who is said to be an expert in military engineering operations, and responsible for technical and engineering activities during an anti-Iran operation by MKO terrorists in July 1988.

MKO members were previously hosted and armed by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in Iraq and helped him incite uprisings in various parts of Iran. However, Albania started hosting them after they were shunned by the government of former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.