Speech delivered by Mr. Sobhani to the European Parliament

Ghalam Association, April 06, 2007

The transcript of a speech addressed to members of the European Parliament on March 27, 2007 by former member of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation, Mr Mohammad Hossein Sobhani. The meeting was hosted by Ms Angelika Beer, on the topic "maintaining the Mojahedin-é Khalq Organisation (MKO) in the list of proscribed terrorist groups after the verdict of the Court of First Instance in ".

 

 

 

 

Ghalam Association, April 06, 2007

In an assembly held on March 27, 2007 at the invitation of the European Parliament in Brussels , the topic of "maintaining the Mojahedin-é Khalq Organisation (MKO) in the list of proscribed terrorist groups after the verdict of the

" was discussed. The assembly was chaired by Ms Angelika Beer, the member of the European Parliament responsible on the Iranian affairs. In this Assembly more than 70 individuals including members of the EP, particularly from the Green Party, experts on the issue of terrorism, and journalists were present. Groups of former members of the MKO who represented some human rights and anti-cult and anti-terrorism societies and centres were also present in this assembly.

Mohammad Hossein Sobhani:

I salute the respected ladies and gentlemen here. I particularly wish to thank Ms Angelika Beer the respected chairperson of the assembly. I also thank Senator Josie Doubiee for his valuable speech on the MKO. I am most pleased to be present in your assembly and I will try to use the limited time that I have to describe my bitter experiences during three decades of my activities and cooperation with the MKO as well as my research on this religious cult. My past organisational position in the MKO is quite clear according to the organisation's publications and documents. I was a member of the central council of the organisation; therefore I am presenting my own experiences of my close involvement inside the organisation. I have gained these bitter experiences through much suffering and pain. I spent more than eight years – I emphasise more than eight years – in the solitary confinement of the MKO in Ashraf Camp since I criticised the strategy of armed struggle and terrorism and cooperating with Saddam Hussein. The related documents have been published in Mojahed publication No. 592 dated August 2002; you can see the actual publication here. According to this document, the MKO has published my handwriting which they forced me to write under torture. This of course is my handwriting, but as I explained, I was forced to write it under torture. According to this letter in my handwriting which has been published in Mojahed, the weekly publication of the MKO, No. 592, page 3, I was jailed in solitary confinement in Ashraf Camp on September 1992. Then after eight years, by the order of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi the leaders of the religious sect, I was submitted to Saddam Hussein's intelligence and security prison in Baghdad . I was in that prison for 35 days and then I was transferred to Abu-Ghraib prison in which I remained for one year. What I am unfolding now are not just my own experiences and are not just those which were imposed on me. There are a number of individuals in this assembly who were also subjected to violations of human rights and there are many others who could not appear in this session. Therefore I must declare that Ms Angelika Beer's valuable speech based on the report given by Human Rights Watch is a drop in the ocean of the violation of human rights in the MKO religious sect. My criticisms against the MKO are by no means justifying the deeds of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I have been invited to this assembly and I deliver my speech here as an expert and researcher on the MKO affairs. If there was a session to speak about the violation of human rights in , I would naturally speak about that subject.

The point I wish to bring up is the fact that the MKO claims they have not attempted any armed or terrorist operation after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The organisation has therefore presented this to the

as evidence to require its name be extracted from the list of terrorist groups issued by the EU. Nevertheless it is well clear that when the former dictator of was toppled, the organisation had no backup of arms and ammunitions to carry on any sabotage activities. Therefore the matter brought forward by the MKO that they have not committed any terrorist activities since the invasion of , by no means proves that the organisation has ruled out the idea of armed struggle. The MKO is based on a deep cultic ideology which was well shown in the speech delivered by Senator Josie Doubiee and I along with my colleagues have witnessed these matters very closely. The position of the leader in the organisation is such that he must be totally praised. Several times a day, in the mornings at noon and in the afternoons, the slogan of salute to Rajavi must be shouted loudly in special ceremonies and this is repeated everyday.I would like to ask those who support the MKO, and I am glad that they are present here at the moment; would a liberal or democrat individual submit to the self invented rule of abandoning marriage? Why is the marriage of men and women forbidden in the organisation and why is the punishment for adultery the death sentence? Why was Ali-Naqi Haddadi executed on this charge? Why have many discontented members of the organisation been jailed in Abu-Ghraib prison? An organisation which violates human rights within its own establishment could not call for democracy and claim to be striving for it. The MKO, falsely, I emphasise falsely, claimed after the verdict given by the on 12 of December, particularly in Ashraf Camp, that the name of the organisation has been removed from the EU list of terrorist groups. Referring to the explanation given by Mr Passau as one of the legal counsellors of EP in this assembly, such claims are baseless and not true. I draw the attention of those who support the MKO (Mr Sobhani was referring to Mr Paulo Casaca MEP from ) and other participant in this session to an interesting point. You are now seeing a publication which belongs to the MKO and it is its official organ. In the emblem of the MKO a Kalashnikov firearm appears as a symbol of armed struggle. If the MKO is serious about ruling out terrorism and the use of violence, why do they not change this emblem and remove the sign of violence and terror?

Since my time is very short and Ms Angelika Beer has already spoken relating to this matter, I wish to pay my gratitude to the Council of the Ministers of Economy and Finance of the EU which issued a declaration relating to the

My time is over now, I am most grateful for your attention to my speech

Iran Interlink Brief

Iran Interlink, July 13, 2007

Massoud Rajavi name in Mojahedin propaganda signals a cult spiralling toward disaster

Our brief in February 2007 mentioned that the Mojahedin Khalq's own analysis places blame for its current difficulties on its critics; in particular former members of the cult who continue to speak out on the cult's continued use of violence and its human rights abuses. One of those critics is Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani, a human rights activist who was mentioned in the May 2005 Human Rights Watch report 'No Exit'.
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=797  

In recent days the MKO has published, on YouTube and similar media, several videos depicting violence and fighting. The words introducing the video clips mention Mr Sobhani by name although none of them actually show him on film. In addition, hundreds of articles have been published without authorship on the tens of websites which have no discernible ownership other than being strongly linked with the MKO which also implicate Mr Sobhani in this violence.

What has happened to provoke this?

On June 17, 2007 Mr Sobhani was invited as a speaker to a meeting in Paris on 'Peace and Tolerance’. He has previously spoken on television and radio. He was invited to speak at the European Parliament on February 27, 2007.
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=1863  

(Mr. Sobhani in European Parliament. Feb. 2007)

During the Paris meeting Mr Sobhani, along with the other guests of the meeting, was attacked by over fifty people. It was later revealed that the attack had been organised by the Mojahedin Khalq from its headquarters in Auver-sur-Oise. Its purpose, to stop anybody criticising the cult.
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=2653  

(Pictures taken fromMr. Sobhani in hospital after being attacked by MKO)

Over fifty attackers were arrested by police at the scene. From among the invited guests Mr Sobhani was arrested by mistake and was subsequently released. He has filed a complaint against Mohammad Hayati, a known MKO terrorist who had been transferred from Iraq (and back again) to act as 'military commander' at the scene.

The Mojahedin subsequently tried to exploit Mr Sobhani's brief arrest and his release along with some of the films they took themselves - which show the attackers’ own engagement with employees of the venue's security firm - in an effort to claim that Mr Sobhani attacked the MKO at the venue where he had been invited as a guest to speak. The MKO propaganda is clearly aimed at discrediting Mr Sobhani as a prominent critic of the group.

This attempt has been going on for the past three weeks but appears not to be working. Even the Mojahedin's own supporters and members cannot explain to themselves why fifty people were sent to violently attack five speakers at the Paris venue.

In an unprecedented move the Mojahedin have issued a lengthy document introduced as a statement by Massoud Rajavi – the MKO's leader who has been in hiding since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein.

In the statement, which purports to be in his name, Massoud Rajavi targets this specific issue and states as a matter of fact that fifty MKO activists were attacked by Mr Sobhani at the venue.

This is the first time that Massoud Rajavi's name has been used in this way. He has never issued any similar statement in all the time he has acted as leader of the cult. The significance of this can be gleaned from exposing Maryam Rajavi's repeated instruction to the Mojahedin's membership that the first, second and third aim of the cult is to protect Massoud Rajavi and his name. But now we see that she herself is spending his name as an expendable asset of the MKO.

In Mojahedin terms this announcement - purportedly by Massoud Rajavi – is intended to act as an injection of ‘ideological’ drug into the Mojahedin cult body. The effect of using Massoud Rajavi’s name should be to convince the members to somehow accept the blatant contradictions inherent in the lie. Not only has Rajavi’s statement not convinced them, but during the past few days we have received numerous reports from inside the Mojahedin that the supporters and some members are struggling with the idea that ‘if Massoud Rajavi’s name can be used as cover for a ridiculous lie like this, then how can we trust him not to have been lying all the time from 1979 until now’. The problem for the ideological members is to try to revere Massoud Rajavi as their Ideological Leader even though his name has now become an expendable asset. They must try not to doubt him, but they can't avoid the inevitability of this which has been imposed on them by this propaganda move.

Observers of the Mojahedin cult are seeing clear signs of desperation. This use of Massoud Rajavi’s name in this recent propaganda campaign more than anything signals that the cult is spiralling out of control. It is becoming more and more isolated and extreme in its behaviour. There should be a warning in this to security officials in European countries.
Iran-Interlink
July 13, 2007

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Also read:
http://iran-interlink.org/index.php?mod=view&id=2587

Rajavi cult sent Mohammad Hayati from Iraq to Assassinate Human Rights activist

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Iran Ghalam (PEN) Association, June 21, 2007
http://www.iran-ghalam.de/2Haupt/951.19.06.07.HTM

According to a report by Iran Ghalam Association (Pen) in Germany, the attack by around fifty thugs associated with the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (MKO) to disrupt a seminar in Paris on Sunday June 17th was planned and orchestrated from the Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) HQ in Paris.
Mr. Mohammad Hussein Sobhani, a human rights activist, who was invited to give a speech at the meeting, was attacked by four members of the cult. The four attackers were led by Mr. Mohammad Hayati who three months ago had been in an Iraqi camp under the control of the American Army in Iraq.
The known terrorist Mohammad Hayati is a leader in the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation with a history of violence going back to the time of the late Shah of Iran. Mohammad Hayati has also been named as a torturer during the rule of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Mohammad Hayati sent from Iraq to Assassinate Human Rights Activist
(picture from Cult's TV talking from their protected terror camp in Iraq)

Mr. Sobhani, who has survived the infamous Abu Ghraib prison where he was incarcerated for opposing the internal human rights violations of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, was deliberately targeted by Mohammad Hayati and three other cult members who were waiting for his arrival at the FIAP building where the meeting was to be held.
He was rescued by French Police and spent the next three days in a Paris hospital where he was treated for injuries to his head and his back.
Mohammad Hussein Sobhani was a witness in the Human Rights Watch report "NO EXIT" published in May 2005
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran0505  
Mr. Sobhani frequently appears in the media and in reports by human rights organisations. He was a guest speaker in the European Parliament in February 2007.
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=1863  
According to Pen Association, Mr. Sobhani who was released from hospital yesterday, has filed a complaint with the French judiciary against Mr. Hayati and three other cult members emphasising the deliberate, organised attacks orchestrated by Maryam Rajavi from the cult HQ in Auvers-sur-Oise, north of Paris.
The arrival of Mohammad Hayati in Paris and the subsequent terrorist operation he headed has been raising serious questions about the capability and the possible role of the American Forces in Iraq who claim to have been keeping the terrorist organisation confined to Camp Ashraf since 2003.

following pictures are taken a couple of days later in the hospital (with the permission of Mr. Sobhani):

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