29th court session to hear the charges against MKO Terrorirsts

 

According to IRNA, At the beginning of the court session, Hojjatoleslam Walmoslemin Amirreza Dehghani, the judge of the court hearing the charges against the PMOI, stated: Today, Tuesday, February18 , 2025, after the 28th recess, the continuation of the first session to hear the indictment issued by the Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office to the 11th Criminal Branch of a Tehran province is being held with me as the head of the court and the advisors.

He added: “Given the presence of the prosecutor’s representative, the lawyers of the plaintiffs and defendants, and some of the plaintiffs in the session, and the formality and openness of the court, in compliance with all the formalities of the criminal procedure code, especially Articles 2, 3, 5, 7, and Articles 296, 297, 315, and 382 of this law, we will begin the continuation of the first session by announcing it as official and public.”

Masoud Maddah, plaintiff’s lawyer, said about the instances and material elements of the crime of leading a criminal group, subject to Article 130 of the Islamic Penal Code: “On this basis, in this session, I will apply one of the most pivotal events that the MKOs carried out, which was the discussion of team houses, repeated assassinations, and torture.”

 

He added: Regarding the material elements of the crime of leadership, jurists state three issues in analyzing the material element of the crime. First; the realization of the physical behavior of the crime, second; the conditions of the committed act, and third; the achievement of a criminal result. Regarding the first case, the realization of the physical behavior of the crime, the first issue is what are the examples of leadership documented by law? Article 130 of the Islamic Penal Code states four examples of leadership: one; formation, two; planning, three; organization, and four; managing a criminal group. I refer to the advisory opinion of the General Legal Department of the Judiciary dated November 15, 2019, which stated that the leader does not necessarily participate in the material and executive operations of the crime, although he may participate in some cases.

 

The plaintiff’s lawyer stated: It is not necessarily the case that the leaders of the MKO groups are themselves supervisors and are also present in criminal operations.

 

Maddah added: At one point, the MEK organization took actions such as assassinating ordinary people to demonstrate its existence, which I presented in the previous meeting with the confessions of a MEK member named Mehran Asdeqi. He stated that the organization ordered us to carry out these terrorist acts if 30 out of every 50 people were ordinary people so that the organization could survive and demonstrate its existence. They reproduce numerous pamphlets and distribute them among their members in team houses. Today’s content is from these pamphlets of the organization.

Maddah said: There is a pamphlet called “Introduction and Tactical Training in Armed Combat” for training members, which states: Emotional, tribal, and group relationships do not fit into a secret and organized struggle. One of the things that the MEK organization sought was to kill the human and emotional sense among its members, and when a person becomes devoid of emotion, the assassination of children, pregnant women, young people, and torture of individuals make no difference to him.

 

He said: “This pamphlet states that the organization’s members are allowed to communicate and contact with people designated by the organization. That is, members of the organization cannot communicate even with their relatives unless the organization has designated them.”

 

He continued: “Another pamphlet called “Different Stages of Formation and Growth of an Operational Team” was distributed to members of the organization in 1988. The conditions required for members to join the operational teams in this pamphlet are that they are fully prepared, fully compliant with the organization, have revolutionary courage, and other conditions.”

 

He said: “The organization had instilled in its members that it was the savior of society, even though more than 98 percent of the people voted for the Islamic Republic of Iran, but the organization instills in them that the people are dissatisfied and we must save the people.”

 

Maddah continued: In the booklet “Training for Offensive Operations,” the organization defines the social effects of operations for its members as follows: “Given the social conditions of Iran, where suffocation reigns and the slightest movement of those seeking justice is severely suppressed by the regime, the actions that can be used to tear apart the curtains of the ruling regime’s terror and terror are the revolutionary operations and offensives of the Mujahid warriors.” My question to the leaders of the organization is, should you kill people to save the people?

 

Maddah explained: This booklet states, “Our society is a society that is on the verge of an uprising and is in the process of boiling over, and there are so many grounds for its attacks and operations that the slightest operational news of the resistance forces reaches the ears of all the people like a wave as soon as possible, and it is in such conditions that it can be rightly said that our people are only alive to operations and the guarantee of the rise of their movement is solely dependent on the continuous blows to the body of the declining regime.”

 

He added: “The different stages of completing and growing an operational team, operational tactics, what characteristics operational forces should have and what training they should receive, the supplies and equipment needed, and that cyanide tablets and weapons should always be with team members, weapons training, and training on intelligence and security checklists – all of these are included in these booklets.”

 

Lawyer clarified: In the first part of this booklet, titled the various stages of completing and growing an operational team on 7 February 1982, it is stated: “In order to be prepared to be in the operational team, in order for your hand to be free to shoot at the enemy of the Iranian people, you must perform a few training actions on ordinary subjects in order to gain the necessary preparation to participate in major plans.” The ordinary subjects in this booklet are religious and Hezbollah groups (women in veils or anyone with a beard or a religious appearance), which the booklet states that killing these people in training will help you gain preparation for major operations.

 

He continued: Characteristics for selecting people in operational units are also given in these booklets. Having facilities for self-protection, a home, a place to sleep, weapons, a hangout, familiarity with the weapons used by operational units, being involved in driving a motorcycle and car, having an element of spontaneity in relation to operations, and intelligence and sensitivity to security issues are among these items.

Lawyer Shekat added: This booklet then discusses the recruitment and assessment of the qualifications of these individuals and their entry into operational units. Accordingly; these activities were coherent, pre-planned and designed and carried out with an organized organization. A person who intended to enter these operational groups first had to fill out a questionnaire. Each team of 3 or 4 people was organized in the form of car and motorcycle teams inside a team house. Each team house has an operations commander, a watchman, an information officer and a person as a carrier who normalizes the group’s activities.

 

He continued: Accordingly, women or children were brought into these houses to create the impression that a family lives there. After the person fills out the questionnaire, an organizational report on the status of these individuals is obtained from their previous supervisors and after the previous supervisor approves, this person enters the operational unit.

 

Maddah said: My question to the leaders of this criminal group is: Do you carry out bombings to liberate and free people from oppression? These booklets are tactical training for armed combat. They state that you must carry out operations and prepare reports from them.

 

He added: Members must provide a summary report, operational report, battalion, groups, day and time of the people who were in this operation and the type of operation to their superiors, and what security and operational measures were taken before the operation.

 

The lawyer for the complaint stated: In booklet number 10, one of the justifications for stealing people’s property was to carry out revolutionary confiscations for the freedom of the people. That is, they steal people’s property for the material and sexual interests of their organization. The experience of making license plates for confiscated cars.

Maddah said: These booklets, which are an example of the structured nature of terrorist actions by the MKO group, recount almost all of their security and intelligence measures. Pamphlets that teach people exactly during, before and after the operation about protecting the headquarters, how to supply weapons, and all of this. One of these pamphlets is this pamphlet that teaches how to make license plates for confiscated cars. They stole people’s cars and changed their license plates. This is the training for making license plates. The necessity of the work is mentioned in this pamphlet. I will read part of it so that everyone can see how heinous this organization is.

 

He added: This pamphlet states that after the events of June 30th at the beginning of the armed conflict with the regime, due to the lack of facilities, especially cars, to carry out operations and strike at the regime’s mercenaries, the revolutionary forces were forced to use confiscated cars temporarily. Of course, although the use of these cars has so far accelerated the work and made operations more convenient and easier, due to inexperience or inattention, it has been the channel for many casualties and logistical losses.

 

The judge said: By confiscated cars, did they mean cars that were stolen?

 

The plaintiff’s lawyer said: Yes. In other pamphlets they give examples and say that our team house was exposed and we found out that the IRGC and the committee forces surrounded this house. We sent one of the members to steal a car and bring it for us to escape.

 

 

Maddah emphasized: In the military branch, one of the experiences of the People’s Mojahedin-e Khalq was the destruction and burning of enemy vehicles. This booklet, which is about the organization’s operations, states what should be done before and after the operation. This booklet teaches how to deal with the enemy when they attack the bases of the Mujahedin revolutionaries. Each base has its own system, one person is present as a watchman, for which a special regulation has been designed and he must watch every 15 minutes. Even the type of curtain used for the operational house is explained in detail.

 

He added: In this booklet, even the hours when the lights are on are mentioned and 11 pm is considered for the shutdown of operational units. It is even said that in houses with yards, a table should be placed inside the yard and people should continuously watch the alley. The smallest details in these booklets are given to people so that they can carry out operations and defend themselves.

 

The lawyer added: “The method of dealing with bases during attacks, the method of maintaining base security, and the method of finding a suitable house are taught. Here, it is said to definitely go to the house with a normalized vehicle. In 10 to 15 pages of the booklet, all the aspects of this normalization are taught. For example, it is said that a person should go to the company in construction clothing and with construction equipment and tools and prepare a house or take a wife or child with him to the company. Also, suitable areas for preparing a house in Tehran were identified and introduced, and it was said to rent a house in areas where the neighbors and people in that area do not support the regime or are not religious people.” He emphasized: Another booklet also teaches members about forgery. The military branch states that each operational team should be defined as two or three people. Two-person branches are related to motorized groups, and 3- and 4-person branches are related to vehicle groups. These teams are deployed in team houses with specific rules and conditions and carry out terrorist acts. Each operational unit must write a report of its operation and submit it to its superior. The details of this operation, including the people participating in the operation, the weapons used, the number of people killed in the operation, the location of the operation and the personal experiences of the people in this operation, must be mentioned in this report.

 

He added: The operational unit of the battalion, the company and a terrorist team operate in this manner and in a systematic and organized manner. In four-person teams in team houses, there is a commander, a deputy, a fire officer and a driver. The fire officer in these team houses is the person who starts shooting if the group is caught in a predicament and, by lighting a fire and shooting, distracts the enemy so that others can escape. However, in an offensive and operational team, the fire officer is the person who carries out the terrorist act.

 

The judge asked: You have stated in your bill that these battalions were established after 1988. Was it from the beginning or was it already there?

 

The plaintiff’s lawyer replied: Massoud Rajavi has been doing organizational work since he was in prison. In previous hearings, the expert also mentioned that Rajavi was doing organizational work 13 to 14 hours a day in prison so that he could organize people with this mechanism; but the operational units and team houses reach their peak when the main members of the organization fled the country. According to the confessions of the members of this group, the organization took these operational measures and assassinated ordinary people in order to get its main members out of the country and to assert its existence inside the country

The judge asked: What year are these pamphlets for?

 

the lawyer said: These pamphlets are mainly for the year 1988.

 

The judge said to lawyer: You wrote in the bill that after the members of the organization participated in the elections, the people did not vote for them, and their actions in the military branches became more severe.

 

The commentator said: More important than this was Massoud Rajavi’s disqualification because he did not accept the constitution, expressed serious opposition, and he himself, who had been a candidate, was disqualified. From now on, when they realized that they could not achieve power and rule and that the people practically did not want these things, they carried out these terrorist acts and their justification was that we are doing these things to save the people. The question is, if the people wanted you, they would have voted for you in the parliament and more than 98 percent would not have voted for the Islamic Republic.

 

Pirouzfar, the lawyer for the defendants in rows 89 to 107 of the case, addressed the judge and said: You asked where the documents for this pamphlet are, the plaintiff’s lawyer did not answer. Today, he spoke again about the beliefs of the Mujahideen organization. Mr. Sedaghat had spoken about this issue in three sessions. The documents mentioned for the operations in the indictment and the references brought by the prosecutor’s representative and the investigator were in the Mujahideen magazine, and we can say that since the Mujahideen magazine is affiliated with the People’s Mujahideen, it can still be legally referenced. He does not state where the pamphlets were obtained.

 

The plaintiff’s lawyer said: The two arguments that the defendant’s lawyer raised are: one is regarding the documents for these pamphlets, these pamphlets were discovered in the team houses of this group, and some of these pamphlets are also clear that they are written and taken from an issue of a certain Mujahideen magazine. Here, the logo of the Mujahideen magazine is present and visible.

 

The defendants’ lawyer said: I can also put a logo on a pamphlet and attribute it to the defendants. Now, the materials that come in the chapters and publications of Mujahid, the trainings, are mentioned in the indictment in 5 cases and we saw these documents in the indictment, but look at these, now it is written: The Executioner of the 60s, what does this mean? In any case, the legal citation of the Mujahid publication is mentioned.

 

The commentator said: The book that published these documents is called The Executioner of the 60s. This book has published unpublished internal documents of the terrorist group of the Hypocrites.

 

The judge said: Give the book to the lawyer and tell her what cases it cites.

 

The judge continued: So some of the cases you mention are not in the indictment, so if it has a source and footnotes, clearly state its documentation.

 

The defendants’ lawyer said: The book is not part of the legal documents. I wanted to express my objection.

 

The judge told lawyer: “From now on, you will cite each of these pamphlets, state the sources of your citation from this pamphlet.”

 

The lawyer said: “Some of these pamphlets were taken from the Mujahid magazine. In the pamphlet “From the Experiences of Mujahid Fighters and How to Deal with Unwanted Conflicts,” members were taught what to do if their team homes were attacked. It explained the causes of unwanted conflicts; it was taken from Mujahid magazine 131, December 15, 1982.”

 

He continued: “In the pamphlet “Destroying Enemy Vehicles,” they explained how to explode vehicles, which was taken from Mujahid magazine 225. One of the tasks of the operation commander was to distribute these pamphlets among the members by writing a code.

 

Lawyer said: In the pamphlet “Characteristics and Duties of the Operations Commander”, it explains the characteristics of people who want to carry out operations, one of which is having an operational history, which shows that experience cannot be obtained from pamphlets, but rather one must participate in several operations.

 

The judge asked lawyer: What reason do you have for attributing these publications and pamphlets to members of the organization?

 

Lawyer said: These pamphlets were discovered in team houses, cars, and from the organization members themselves, and the organization members have also admitted that the organization provided them with these pamphlets for training.

 

He continued: There is another pamphlet called “How to Create Military Resistance Bases” in which members of the organization are told to look and dress like a mechanic when renting a team house and introducing themselves as mechanics.

 

Lawyer said: People were not with the MKO and intended to hide themselves. In cases where people were informed about the team houses and informed the committee.

 

The judge asked the plaintiff’s lawyer: What does it have to do with terrorist acts if an organization teaches its members things like pretending to be mechanics?

 

The plaintiff’s lawyer replied: All of these things are preparatory to carrying out terrorist acts and criminal acts and are also mentioned in the statements of the organization’s members. Parvin Partovi, under the pseudonym Maryam, is mentioned in the statements. She was in the West Tehran Women’s and Neighborhoods Association.

 

The judge said: State your reasons and documents?

 

The lawyer of the complaint replied: The documentary is this book.

 

Judge Dehghani said: The book cannot be documentary, this book definitely relied on some matters.

 

Maddah clarified: I will attach the documentation of the book to the bill. This person states: After 30th of Khordad, I entered one of the military bases of the organization. The organization’s lines regarding the armed and rebellious demonstrations of Shahrivar were to attack government centers such as banks, ministries, government printing houses, etc. If this demonstration was accompanied by a gathering of people, military centers such as the IRGC, Basij, Committee, etc. were also to be attacked. In addition, the route of the march was checked in advance and a complete reconnaissance was carried out. The shops and houses of Hezbollah members were also identified and set on fire during the demonstrations and marches. Assassinating Hezbollah members along the march route was also on the agenda (it was previously said that members were asked to target ordinary people to train for assassinations).

 

He continued: For this armed demonstration that took place in September, a report was prepared based on reports that people gave while participating in armed demonstrations. The organization had convinced these people that as soon as you started shooting, groups of people would join you in the marches and the regime’s work would be finished. However, these people repeatedly announced that they fired shots in the air, threw Molotov cocktails into shops, and set buses on fire, but there was no news of any popular demonstrations. One case was mentioned about an armed demonstration on Vali Asr Street. According to the members’ report, the number of forces participating in this operation was 40 liaison forces and two operational units, and the operation lasted 8 minutes, and as a result of this demonstration, 12 of the organization’s forces were arrested or killed. A grenade was also thrown in the middle of the street and a bus was set on fire. In this demonstration, 10 ordinary people were injured or killed, and the reason for this was the crowdedness of the area and the resistance of the people to the organization’s forces. That is, the people themselves stood up to these terrorists.

 

The lawyer of the complaint reminded: If in Article 130, there are four instances in the investigation of the physical behavior of the crime, namely formation, planning, organization and management, you can see exactly that this is quite obvious and evident in the behavior of the terrorist group of the MKO. In terms of criminology, Mr. Sutherland, as the first criminologist who explained organized crimes in his book, has a theory called honorary associations. According to this theory, a person, by being a member of a criminal group and accepting the values ​​of that group, prefers the norms of the group over the norms and values ​​of society, and this factor causes him to commit criminal acts. In other words, the issue of murder is not easy for a person, but when a person enters a group, he has an identity that is formed based on the amount and duration of contact he has with the members of this group.

 

Maddah continued: “In these groups, the motivation and beliefs of these people are exploited, and the human and emotional relationships of individuals are destroyed; as a result, a person reaches a point where he can easily take the life of another human being. I request the court to refer the matter to a psychologist for a criminological investigation and analysis of the behavior of the perpetrators and the perpetrators of these factors, so that a psychological analysis can be conducted in this regard. Because it is important to know what mental and psychological problems people suffer from when they take such actions in these groups.”

 

Maddah added: The next issue is the lack of a limit on the number of leaders, based on the advisory opinion of the General Legal Department, which clearly states that there is no limit on the number of leaders and administrators. If we were to refer to Note 2 of Article 130 of the Islamic Penal Code, it states that leadership is the formation, planning, organization, or administration of a criminal group.

 

He said: There may be several responsible persons, and therefore, based on the graph that I presented to you in the last session in this same court, we can say that, in particular, regarding the cadres who were present during the military operations and were leaders, Masoud Rajavi, accused in the second row, Maryam Qajar Azdanloo, accused in the third row, Mehdi Abrishemchi, accused in the fourth row, and Zohreh Akhiani, accused in the fifth row, Mehdi Baraei, accused in the seventh row, Zahra Marikhi Ahangar, accused in the ninth row, Ali Khodayi Sefat, accused in the eleventh row, Mohammad Tariqat Monfared, accused in the sixteenth row, Mahvash Sepehri, accused in the seventeenth row, Mohsen Siah Kolah, accused in the twentieth row, Mahmoud Ataei, accused in the twenty-sixth row, and Azadeh Rezaei, accused in the seventh row, we can attribute the crime of leadership to these individuals.

 

Details of the educational pamphlets of the MKO group for robbing and killing ordinary people

 

Statements of a defected member of the MKO who was a member of this group for 16 years

 

Masoud Khodabandeh, a defected member of the MKO who was a member of this group for 16 years, appeared on the stand and swore to tell nothing but the truth in court.

 

Khodabandeh said in court: I became acquainted with the organization a few years before the revolution, and then I went to England and became a member of the organization and was in Iranian Kurdistan for 2 years. After that, I went to Iraq with Massoud Rajavi. I traveled to Iraq and Europe. I took Maryam Rajavi from Iraq to France. In France, I decided to leave the organization and I had 2 passports that I handed in and went to London and I have been in contact with the MKO since 1998. With the help of my wife, I wrote 3 books about the MKO. During this time, I also participated in a court as a witness. I appeared in this court today. I confirm all the books and pamphlets introduced in court.

 

The judge asked: How long were you in the organization?

 

Khodabandeh, a defected member of the organization, said: I was in the organization for 15 years. I was present in England as a supporter. We established the Committee to Support the People’s Mojahedin in London with the help of Dr. Reza Raisi. Then I went to prison. After my release, I went to Paris. I was assigned to take Radio Mojahedin to the Sardasht region, where I was in this region for 2 years. After that, I went to Iraq and Paris. In Paris, I was responsible for protecting Bani Sadr’s daughter. After Massoud Rajavi divorced Bani Sadr’s daughter, I was with Maryam Rajavi. I was on the team that took over Camp Ashraf and developed it. Some time later, I separated from the organization and since then I have been collecting materials related to the Mojahedin. So far, I have introduced more than 100 of the defected members of the organization to psychologists, accompanied by them, to determine if someone like me had become a member of the organization, and we took these measures.

 

He continued: I worked full-time for the organization. As long as my father was alive, he couldn’t believe that I had joined the organization and said he wouldn’t forgive you.

 

 

 

The judge asked this defected member: Describe the pattern that led you to join the organization?

 

Masoud Khodabandeh, a defected member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization who was a member of this group for 16 years, said: The process of producing a person who straps a bomb to himself and detonates it is already in his book. They named people as leaders, tortured these people and ordered others to torture them. I took Mehdi Abrishamchi to Kurdistan. When this person came, he was different from the person who would later torture, just like Masoud Rajavi, whom we saw earlier, was different from the Rajavi who went to Saddam. Ugliness gradually falls and an ordinary person cannot suddenly become a torturer.

 

The judge added: Did you yourself hear orders to torture directly from Masoud Rajavi, Maryam Rajavi, Abrishamchi and other people? Were you part of the team of guards of the people who were in charge of the center of this organization? Did you hear orders to torture people or members and Iranian prisoners of war who were captured by Saddam?

 

Massoud Khodabandeh said: In Iraq, they held smaller meetings so that people could learn the work and give instructions to others in larger meetings. The leadership battalion in these meetings was small, like Mehdi Abrishamchi. A leadership council had been formed at that time, and they came with Massoud Rajavi in ​​a row, like Mehdi Abrishamchi and others. Monfared and Siah Kola and Fereshteh Shadloo and Abolghasem Rezaei and Mahmoud Ataei and Morteza Esmailian, whom we called Javad Khorasan.

 

He said: In these meetings, men were forced to curse their wives and divorce their wives. One of these people, named Commander Kamal, was in that meeting and refused, so they took him out and half an hour later they said he had set himself on fire. In fact, Massoud and his apparatus claimed that they were doing these things against me and that these people should be eliminated in a way that their voices would not be heard. There is a voice of Massoud in a meeting saying how much money to take and carry out a terrorist act.

 

Massoud Khodabandeh said: During the Forough Javidan and Mersad operations, when I was behind the wireless, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi were there, and Ibrahim Zakiri and Abrishmchi and an Iraqi liaison were also there, and they were sitting in the next room, they were sitting between us and Iraq because Iraq had to provide air support, logistics and fuel. When Massoud asked for more air support and when they were trapped, the Iraqi officers said we can’t and they said you have to retreat because this is a war crime because they saw that all the forces were being killed and there was no victory. Then a helicopter came and took Massoud to Saddam and he said we had no possibility of air support, and again Massoud Rajavi did not retreat. He only allowed Ibrahim Zakiri and Abrishmchi.

 

The judge said: Did Saddam know about the nature of Massoud Rajavi’s action?

 

Massoud Khodabandeh said: I knew that this device would be injected from another place, meaning that the hypocrites themselves did not decide to attack and they had three days to spare, otherwise the border would be closed, and it was clear to Saddam that the hypocrites would not get anywhere, but Rajavi always had hope. The only thing I heard from Massoud Rajavi was that we would go and when we reached Kermanshah, the people would rise up and the matter would be over. But in Islamshahr, people were also fighting them, and it was clear that not only in Kermanshah but also in Islamshahr, people were fighting back. They also killed many ordinary people. As far as Maryam in the meeting, he would tell Zarkesh not to come, or he would tell who should go back and I would take them. There is a tape of the attack on Iran. I have never seen someone order an attack on the enemy of a country while he is in that country. Unfortunately, this happened at the hands of the hypocrites.

 

Torture of prisoners by Mehdi Abrishmchi

 

Then Khodabandeh said: You gave the example of Abrishmchi. I have witnessed his despicable deeds many times. One of the things I remember about him was the way he treated the prisoners. Mehdi Abrishmchi told me: When they wanted to bring the prisoners to Camp Ashraf, the members of the hypocrites and the Iraqi forces tortured these prisoners for three or four days without food or water. The hypocrites and the Iraqi forces formed a tunnel in two lines, and the prisoners were beaten with sticks and clubs while passing through this tunnel. After three days, they gave these prisoners a little food, and then they kept them hungry for another three days, and after the second three days, they gave them a little food again. Many prisoners died from starvation.

 

He continued: “I remember that Abrishemchi and another person in a fake disguise filmed these people. They filmed the butcher shop, the dining hall and various sections where the prisoners were celebrating, dancing and celebrating. They showed these films to other prisoners and said, ‘We are not your enemies and we want to save you from the Baathist forces.'” This is how they recruited the prisoners into the group.

 

Referring to the actions of Fahimeh Orani in the Hypocrites Organization, he said: “I brought Fahimeh Orani. She was among the leaders of the group after Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. Fahimeh was a woman who supported this group in Germany. When the ideological revolution took place and everyone was supposed to divorce their wives and marry Maryam Rajavi, this person wrote a letter to Massoud Rajavi and claimed that she had separated from her wife and child and intended to marry Massoud Rajavi. On Massoud Rajavi’s orders, we transferred her to Baghdad. Fahimeh Orani was the cause of the torture of many people in the organization. She had recently been assigned to approach men and introduce people who did not adhere to the organization’s principles to the organization and take them to prison for torture.

 

This defected member of the MKO stated: Javad Khorasan, one of the members of this group, told me that Mohsen Siahkolah tortured me in a way that I could not believe that someone who was my close friend would torture me until I became a human being. His blows were so severe that my hand broke. In fact, this torture was because Javad Khorasan wanted them to have nothing to do with him, not to write reports, and not to take him to meetings.

 

He added: Mojgan Parsiyai, like me, was a student living in the United States. He had accompanied the organization in the tortures and tortured many people. He was introduced as one of the officials of the Ashraf garrison. All the promotions and positions that were given to individuals were based on this. When I was in the region and we wanted to teach members how to use wireless, Mojgan Parsiyai was introduced to us to learn how to use wireless so that he could establish communications. When I gave him the codes, he was illiterate. Now this illiterate person has become one of the leaders of the MKO and is torturing prisoners from the Shah’s era.

 

Khodabandeh, a dissident member of the MKO, emphasized the widespread support of some governments for the MKO terrorist group, saying: I had 3 passports that I could travel all over the world with; someone had definitely opened this way for us that we were not aware of. In Jordan and Iraq, we had weapons travel cards and no one had anything to do with us. This also happened in some European countries, but it was a little more secretive. In my opinion, the MKO organization would never have been formed before the revolution and its activities would not have expanded after the revolution unless a major supporter and backer supported it.

 

Massoud Khodabandeh said: In meetings with the Americans in Iraq, it was said that you have reached a dead end and so has Saddam. Stay together until the end, let’s see what you will do? Then how are you going to declare that it is none of my business? Between the first and second Gulf Wars, a person was brought to Massoud Rajavi and his friends as a Wall Street Journal reporter. The end of his speech was that we are now against Saddam. Rajavi said, “Well, you agreed with us.” He said, “I know, you should come and talk and send some people to America to determine what we should do with you and where we should send you.” Rajavi said, “First, you tell me where better than here so I can say yes or no.” Then the reporter said in an envelope, “You have the force and you can’t do it without them.” Rajavi said, “Bring the offices,” and he said, “The people of Iran paid for these trucks,” and other details. The other person got angry and told me that I wanted to go back. He said, “Let two other people come with me to the airport so that I can go back to my country.” He added, “Masoud Rajavi stayed with Saddam and took his revenge.” When we brought Maryam Rajavi to Paris, we were supposed to go to America from there, and at that time they were no longer accepting them. She insisted on giving me a visa so that I wouldn’t come secretly. She kept saying that they had also canceled my visa and that anyone who returned would be thrown in prison. We were forced to make it public that Maryam Rajavi was in Paris, and that this relationship was behind the scenes with a group like the MKO. May God not forgive the Shah for not letting us read books. Most of the MKOs were either electricians or mechanics. Some, however, had joined, and Seyyed al-Muhaddisin knew what he was doing from the beginning. Although he was from a religious family, he had no problem with it, but most of them joined the organization in this way.

 

He added: If I were to say about Kolahi and Kashmiri in one sentence, the MKO and Massoud Rajavi personally knew about them. At that time, in London, the night before the explosion of the Jomhuri Party, they told us to go to the embassy and write “Death to Beheshti.” Mustafa Afshar, who was Rajavi’s Arabic translator, came secretly to London and connected me to Tehran.

 

The judge said: Who were Rajavi’s translators?

 

 

Massoud Khodabandeh said: Hosseinnejad was Baqir Kashmiri, but Afshar was someone who was his private and trusted translator. I can’t erase this from my mind that Massoud Rajavi has said a thousand times and Heravi encouraged this. Kolahi later, when we returned to Baghdad and Camp Ashraf was set up, he was mostly doing technical work and a pump in the Jalala camp had broken down and he wanted to go and fix the pump, but they wouldn’t let him. I said I would go with him and they let him. I don’t think anyone in the MEK had any doubts that the organization had planned these programs and done these things.

 

He added: We had to move the wireless to receive the army’s frequencies and we were doing technical work. Kolahi, who was there, said to the construction engineer, “Come on, let me teach you how to do it too.” Ebrahim Zakiri said we know, Zakiri was teaching electronics in Tehran and at that time I taught him. We used to change the wireless frequency at that time so that we could catch the committee that said Abdullah Payam network, so we could see where they were going and if they followed us, we could run away. Kashmiri and Javad Ghadiri one day went to stop the second pillar and stopped the coup and helped Bakhtiar’s coup and they went and planted bombs.

 

He said: Javad Khorasan is currently in Albania and continues his actions against the Islamic Republic and in support of the MKO. I, along with a doctor, helped people who had recently left the group and found them a place to sleep. After learning about this, the MKO began to harass this doctor. At one point, 40 to 50 members of the MKO led by Javad Khorasan beat this doctor and his wife. Although support for this group has decreased in today’s conditions, it still continues. Albania is a country whose street names change with the change of US president, meaning that two streets in Albania are currently named after Trump. That region is completely in the hands of the US, and in return, Albanians are given work visas in England and Europe; therefore, support for the MKO group in Albania, although it has decreased, continues.

 

He continued: “During Saddam’s time, if I wanted to implement a project, they would pay for it, but this has not happened for years and they cannot invite someone from, for example, Canada, pay for his accommodation and other expenses to participate in MKO gatherings, so they use people from within the same country. An American senator told me that when someone is attacking the Islamic Republic, we do not be hostile to him.”

 

The judge asked: When did these statements come from?

 

Khodabandeh replied: 4 or 5 years ago. Currently, the MKO organization has changed shape. At one time, this organization, centered on Saddam and Massoud Rajavi, only carried out military terrorist operations. After Turki Faisal (who announced Massoud Rajavi’s death without coordination), this military terrorist apparatus became an information and propaganda apparatus. The center of this organization was also entrusted to Turki Faisal and Maryam Rajavi. After Saddam’s death, there was no place for Massoud Rajavi in ​​this organization, so he had to be put aside, dead or alive. I tried many times to speak in the Brussels court, but they did not allow me to.

 

He added: Members who break away from the MKO are threatened by this group, and Kolhai was also killed by this group. The MKO is playing tricks on the West for propaganda, and the content they produce is published all over the world with the cooperation of Turki Faisal.

 

This member who broke away from the MKO said regarding the trial of Hamid Nouri in Sweden: I have never seen or known Mr. Nouri, but there was not a single person among them who testified against him in court who was honest and responsible. All of these witnesses had fake names and identities, and even their jobs, addresses, and the things they stated in court were lies. This action was planned by Turki Faisal so that an Iranian official would go to a country, be arrested, and be handed over to another country for trial so that they could later exchange him with prisoners they had in Iran. Maryam Rajavi was afraid of sending the members of the group to Sweden and thought that if they went to Sweden, they would not return, so they held the trial in Albania.

 

Judge Dehghani addressed this defected member of the organization: Was the organization’s central cadre aware of Kashmiri’s actions?

 

Khodabandeh said: Saeed Shahsavandi was a member of the central cadre and had told me that they were aware of Kashmiri’s actions.

 

The judge asked: Were they aware of Kashmiri’s planning and training?

 

Khodabandeh said: Regarding Kolahi, I can definitely say that he was trained by the organization and had a connection with Ebrahim Zakari.

 

The judge said: Did Masoud Rajavi talk about Kashmiri and the September 8 incident?

 

Khodabandeh said: Yes. Kashmiri was unwilling to divorce his wife and in a meeting they were trying to punish him, in which Masoud Rajavi said that Kashmiri’s actions in the explosion incident were in the past and he should divorce his wife and if Hanif Nejad were still alive, if he had not divorced his wife, he would no longer be a mujahid. Not being a mujahid meant being threatened with prison and all members knew this.

 

This defected member of the organization said: Kashmiri would definitely not have been able to do this without the training and support of a central cadre like Siah Kolah. Kashmiri could not have done this alone and he was definitely trained, but I do not know who trained him. Ebrahim Zakari had given Kolahi the necessary training.

 

He said: When Mr. Khatami was the president and gave a speech at the UN, the Mujahedin showed up there and threw eggs. This action was also coordinated, as a result of the actions of Kolahi and Kashmiri, and they were 100 percent trained in advance.

 

Making bombs with chemical fertilizers and dishwashing liquid

 

Khodabandeh continued: Siah Kolah was trained and blindfolded made bombs with chemical fertilizers and dishwashing liquid, but Kashmiri did not know about making bombs.

 

Khodabandeh continued: Kashmiri was recruited from within the organization’s committee. There is a term in English called brain capture, which the organization used to make its members do anything, such as bombing.

 

The judge said: You provide your evidence to the court.

 

Khodabandeh said: Massoud Rajavi taught Maryam Rajavi his work.

 

This defected member of the organization said: A place similar to Iranian cities was built in Camp Ashraf so that members could learn how to behave in the city when facing ordinary people during training for operations, and even what words to use and how to walk.

 

The judge said: Was this done in the case of Kashmiri and Kolahi?

 

Khodabandeh said: Yes, it must have been done. Zakeri taught about making bombs. Abbas Davari taught members how to behave during operations.

 

He continued: My brother was arrested in Syria. He thought that when he was arrested, he would be tortured in Iran, whereas a few days after his arrest, they took him to a dentist and repaired his damaged teeth. Members who break away from the organization only then do their brains start working.

 

A member of the MKO assassinated a person inside a shop in front of his son

 

This defected member of the organization said: I know a member of the organization who assassinated a person inside a shop in front of his son. The son of the assassin has forgiven the accused, but the assassin still has a guilty conscience after 30 years and cannot sleep without pills.

 

He said: Camp Ashraf was like a prison. Crimes also occurred in Ashraf. In Camp Ashraf, there were houses where families lived before the divorces, but after the divorces, those houses turned into prisons.

 

This defected member of the organization stated: Mahvash Sepehri was one of the people who tortured in the prisons.

 

Then the lawyer of some other defendants took the stand and said: I am the lawyer of defendants 44 to 64. I have a few questions for the witness. Regarding the indictment, most of the discussion is that the charges have been attributed since 1978 and in most cases they said that these are members of the central cadre. What has the central cadre of the organization been like since 1978? Who are the main decision-makers? What role did defendants 5 to 107 play in planning assassinations or leading and directing the organization’s members?

 

Massoud Khodabandeh said: When I went to Paris, the organization had a political office, a central committee and a central committee member, and an organizational system ruled it. When they held the first revolutionary meeting, some fled and some stayed. The political office was closed that day. Mohammad Ali Tohidi got angry and punched Massoud in the ear, which broke his tooth and his own watch, which Massoud later went to buy him a watch.

 

The lawyer for defendants in rows 44 to 64 said: One of my questions was what was the difference between the leadership cadre, the central cadre, and the central council, and which was the latter and which was the former, and in which of these organizations were defendants 5 to 107 responsible?

 

Massoud Khodabandeh said: Defendant in row 15 came with his wife so that his wife could study. Then his wife joined the Mujahedin and then they separated, and they have a daughter who is grown up, but he himself did not separate and stayed. He became the first person in charge in the organization after Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. This person did everything in the organization, but after a while he was transferred. In the organization, members moved around and were not fixed in one place.

 

He added: For example, I myself was responsible for security and once I was transferred to the training department.

 

The defendants’ lawyer asked: Who was responsible for decision-making in the organization?

 

Khodabandeh said: The central cadre and the central council were aware of the actions.

 

Then the lawyer for defendants in rows 5 to 107 of this case asked: After Massoud Rajavi, who among defendants in rows 5 to 107 was the decision-maker?

 

The judge said: Mr. Shahid, you stated that after the ideological revolution, only the central cadre was the decision-maker. What did the other elements do?

 

Khodabandeh replied: The leadership council did not have any decision-making activity and most of the orders came from above.

 

The judge asked: Who do you mean from above?

 

The defected member of the MKO clarified: Massoud and Maryam Rajavi were the main decision-makers. If there was a problem with any department, the officials of that department would be called, but they did not have a council to make decisions, and all decisions were made by Maryam and Masoud.

 

The lawyer for the defendants in rows 5 to 107 of the case said: We can almost say that all the charges were brought against these individuals based on Article 130 of the Islamic Penal Code as leadership. A leader is someone who attempts to form a group or designs the way to form an organization or its criminal actions, or organizes and directs the activities of its members. If all these questions are not answered, it will not be clear to the court who among these defendants should be punished for the charge of leadership? Considering that many members of the MKO were not aware of the organization’s actions and only had orders to assassinate and were involved in these assassinations without even realizing what they were participating in, my question to you is that apart from the first 5 defendants in the case, did the rest of the people know about these assassinations and consider these individuals leaders or not? The answer to this question is very important to us.

 

 

Khodabandeh said: I think Massoud Rajavi should answer this question, because I do not know at all some of the list of defendants that has been provided to me; but I know some of them completely.

 

The judge said: Announce the number of people that you know completely.

 

The defected member of the MKO stated: As far as I know, among the people on this list, Abbas Ali Davari was one of the important people of the organization. Saddam paid the expenses and costs of these assassinations, and Abbas Ali Davari received these amounts from Saddam and provided them to the organization. Yaser Tariqat-Manfard has been the organization’s financial manager since the organization’s establishment in Iran. He lives in Switzerland under the name of Lolachian, and they have an office in each country and have formed an extensive financial network that is also injected into this network from other countries. The cost of all previous and new propaganda and assassinations of this organization is financed from this place.

 

Details of the training booklets of the MKO group for robbing and killing ordinary people

 

The judge asked: Of the names you saw, how many of these people were involved in planning and financing these matters, including the 30 August explosion, the 28 June 1981 incident, and the torture of members of the prisoners, defectors, and prisoners of war?

 

Khodabandeh replied: Mehdi Baraei was the designer of the operation and is currently working with the organization. Mojgan Parsiai was a student abroad and was the one who signed a contract to hand over Camp Ashraf to the Americans. Mojgan was not present in Tehran at the time of the explosion of the Republican Party, and was in the United States, and was probably not a member of the organization at that time.

 

Judge Dehghani asked: Is he currently a member of the central cadre?

 

Khodabandeh, a defector from the MKO, replied: Yes. He was also responsible for Camp Ashraf for a while and personally participated in many matters, such as torture and sending operational teams to Tehran.

 

The judge said: Does that mean he was involved in planning the dispatch of the operational team to Tehran and the individuals?

 

Khodabandeh emphasized: Yes. All of these matters went back to the headquarters and the responsibility of the headquarters was also the responsibility of Mojgan Parsiai. Zahra Merhi is also currently working in the propaganda department, but she used to work in the operational department and has now reached the central cadre. Mohammad Ali Tohidi was a long-time member of the political office and was responsible for the organization’s foreign relations.

 

The judge asked: Does that mean Mr. Tohidi is a member of the cadre and did he have a role in these actions?

 

Khodabandeh replied: Yes, as far as I know, the author of most of the content for the Mujahid magazine was Mohammad Ali Tohidi, and he also attended Massoud Rajavi’s meetings. At 2 p.m., when Massoud woke up, he would first call Jaberzadeh and Tohidi and tell them the content he had in mind and ask them to prepare the text and bring it to him for approval so that it could be published in the Mujahid magazine.

 

Khodabandeh said: They sent problematic people to prison to be polite. People who did the things they wanted for them, they collected their photos and biographies in an album and mentioned them in meetings. Mohammad Hayati was a prisoner during the Shah’s time and when he came to Iraq he was active in military units.

 

The judge said: Did Mohammad Hayati play a role in torturing Iranian members and prisoners of war?

 

Khodabandeh said: Many defectors complained to him. Niko Khaefi was also a high-ranking commander. I sent some people to Niko who I did not know were with the organization or not.

 

The judge said: Why did you send these people to Niko?

 

Khodabandeh said: We were sending them to be trained. They had an admissions department, in which they would argue with a person to the point of determining whether he was an infiltrator or not? They would do everything from checking his background to talking to him and imprisoning him to find out. Mahmoud Azdanloo was in charge of Maryam’s daughter and Massoud’s son. Maryam had left him in Europe to take care of the children.

 

The judge said: Mahmoud Azdanloo played a role in torturing members and prisoners, and did he participate in assassinations, training, and recruiting?

 

Khodabandeh said: I do not know. He helped with financial matters with the Manfared Path. He helped launder money that was received from Saddam, and he was not in Iraq much. Mohammad Javad Ghadiri was a skilled teacher and could make bombs, train people, and scare people.

 

Khodabandeh, a defected member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization, said: Hamida Shahrokhi is one of those who started the heresy of beating and was one of the creators of this atmosphere, and Alireza Madanchi, I think, is deceased, and Soraya Shahri was also one of the leaders. In my opinion, Behzad Moezzi was a direct CIA agent, had nothing to do with the Mojahedin, and later became involved with the Mojahedin. This person did not do much except fly to torture or train people, and his relationship with America was protected and he was one of the guests of the Mojahedin, and most of the time he did technical work. He was busy with technical work during the time he was in Iraq.

 

He added: Zohra Bani Jamali was also studying medicine, and for a while I used to hire people from her to protect the group, and she was the commander of the axis and had to carry out orders. Azizollah Paknejad did less military work and mostly came and went with the council members and the headquarters, of course, I may not have seen anything from him.

 

The judge said: Did Azizollah Paknejad play a role in planning actions against the Islamic Republic, training members, securing financial resources, and other matters?

 

Khodabandeh replied: Azizollah Paknejad was more active in international relations work, meaning that the relationships that the organization could not establish directly were done through him, and his relationship was for a time when I had not yet gone to Iraq.

 

Khodabandeh continued: The National Council of Resistance was nothing more than the People’s Mojahedin Organization itself; and some of the council meetings were more private, and if Massoud Rajavi announced something and someone opposed it, they would expel it. For example, when Ghasemlou opposed it, they expelled it from the council meetings.

 

He said: Parviz Khazaei was also the Iranian ambassador during the Shah’s time. When the Islamic Republic came to power, he sold the embassy’s stamps and good passports and gave a set of passports to Massoud Rajavi. He stayed there until I kicked him out, and when he got out, he stuck to Massoud Rajavi. He was a strange creature. This person would cover up the defected members of the organization, forge their signatures, and prepare legal cases for them.

 

The judge said: Is the Leadership Council the political title of the organization that worked in Europe?

 

Khodabandeh stated: The Leadership Council did not actually lead, in fact, they did whatever they were told. The National Council of Resistance is also the same organization, and only Massoud Rajavi decides what to do or not to do. This council does not even write the announcements of the National Council of Resistance, so the National Council is the same organization that was for political work in Europe, and the Leadership Council was under the supervision of Massoud Rajavi in ​​the camp and its organization.

 

He continued: Bijan Rahimi also worked in the organization’s special project and had a specific job. Hadi Roshan Ravan, or Akhbari, was responsible for the evacuation of telephones and sending infiltrators, and training and recruiting for terrorist acts. One of his jobs was also making files for foreign services. He even sold secret information and was involved in the evacuation of information from prisoners of war. I did not see it with my own eyes, but no one else could have done this.

 

The judge said, did Hadi Roshan Ravan teach anyone how to torture?

 

Khodabandeh, a member of the MEK, said: This person had a series of books that I threw away when I opened one of them, and in these books there was a method of dismembering the body, that is, how to hide the body parts by dismembering them after killing. I also think that Mohammad Sadat Darbandi has passed away and he was one of the people who tortured and gave military training to the members of the organization, and he was one of the people who gave us this training before Iraq taught us the training. Abbas Shakeri specialized in anesthetizing people and did these things and worked in the field of abortion and sterilization in the health care. Soheila Sadeq was also one of the military commanders and many people were afraid of her. Mehran Sadeq was more active in propaganda and filming.

 

He continued: “Ruqayeh Abbasi was among those who tortured many people and also interfered in the Interior Ministry headquarters, whose duty is to dispatch teams for bombing operations, and also provided accommodation for the dispatched individuals. Souri was also involved in torturing individuals, as was Parviz Karimian. Farid Mahutchi was also a member of the army and was one of the people who made shoes for members. Ismail Mortazavi was among the torturers, and most of these individuals were deputy commanders.”

 

The lawyer for the case took the stand and said: In response to the defendants’ lawyer, I must say that regarding Asadqi’s statements, Masoud Khodabandeh pointed out that Mr. Asadqi did not mention the central cadre, and in the interrogation sheet dated April 27, 1983, Asadqi explicitly answers the question of who planned and directed this heinous crime. Asadqi says that the blow that hit the central office of the organization on April 22, 1983, put the highest and most qualified forces of the organization behind the torture process. Because this issue was important and the operational trajectory of the organization was focused on torture, the central office of the organization was at the forefront of this process, and specifically, people from the central office who played a role in directing this process include Masoud Rajavi, Ali Zarkesh, Mahmoud Ataei, and Mehdi Eftekhari, people who were responsible for its implementation inside the country, the full framework of which was also presented in the previous session.

 

The lawyer who filed the case asked Massoud Khodabandeh, “According to your statements, the organization’s financial connection and funding came from Iraq and France. Have any other countries provided financial support to the MKO?”

 

 

Massoud Khodabandeh replied: The MKO is currently also receiving financial support, but the type is different. When we were in Iraq, there was

a dinar quota and a dollar quota, and support is also provided through Mr. Tariqat Manfared. The organization laundered money in the form of charity and… and all these charities operated in different countries under the name Iran IT, and now they have opened several new names.

 

Massoud Maddah said: I think it is good that the judges of France, America and Canada accepted the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism and are now declaring crimes against their government men. Since the organization operates under various NGOs in the world, I request the people of the world to introduce the institutions that are affiliated with the MKO in court, and the Supreme Judicial Authority should also take the necessary action to declare crimes against these institutions that launder money and finance terrorism.

 

The judge said that the names of the institutions should be presented to the court with reasons so that the court can make a decision according to the law.

 

Ebrahimi, the commander of the 4th Fire Department, who was dispatched to the scene on the night of the Hezb incident, took the stand after taking the oath and said: I was a firefighter from Station 4 who was the first rescue team to arrive at the scene of the incident, and I was about 40 years old at the time. After the fire alarm sounded, we were immediately dispatched to the scene. We were the firefighting team, but when we arrived there, there was no fire, and since I was a member of the headquarters of one of the Hezb districts, they had already come to the Hezb building. After entering, I saw that the roof of the building had collapsed on the crowd, so I requested a 25-ton crane from the headquarters. We were working at the scene until morning. The process of removing the rubble was very difficult because there were no necessary tools, and we could even hear the voices of the martyrs under the rubble. As the commander present at the scene, we determined that this destruction was caused by an explosion.

 

The judge asked if anyone came out alive from under the rubble?

 

Ebrahimi replied: Yes, a few people came out alive from under the rubble.

 

Mohammad Reza Vaez Mahdavi, a member of the Islamic Republic of Iran Party, took the stand after taking the oath and said: Before the revolution, I attended meetings at the home of Martyr Beheshti, and after the fall of the provisional government, I was in the Secretariat of the Revolutionary Council, and after about a year, at the invitation of Martyr Beheshti and some other martyrs, such as Martyr Maliki, I joined the party and was responsible for a section called training the districts.

 

The judge asked: Did they know Kolahi at that time?

 

Vaez Mahdavi replied: Yes, in the communications we had, we had not observed anything suspicious that would have led us to believe that this person was an influencer. I had come into close contact with this person, we had even talked, and he was very calm and collected, and nothing was revealed. I had left the party an hour before the explosion, and I usually did not attend meetings held at the Sarcheshmeh Party itself because it was not related to my district. I heard from those who were there that Kolahi was at the scene half an hour before the explosion, when he left on a motorbike and was asked where he was going, and he replied that he wanted to buy ice cream, and he was never seen again. This infiltration was planned to make this happen.

 

Tebyanian, one of the firefighters who was at the scene of the Hizb incident, took the stand after taking the oath and said: I was a firefighter at the time and we arrived at the scene immediately after the incident. Mr. Ebrahimi was my commander and we were the first rescue team to arrive at the scene. We determined that the incident that had occurred was caused by an explosion and we were clearing the rubble at the scene until morning because the thickness of the roof was very high. We rescued a number of people from under the rubble while clearing the rubble.

 

Finally, Judge Dehghani said that the next court session would be held on March 4.

.