Ali Saremi, a member of the People's Mojahedeen of Iran (PMOI) group,
has been executed for anti-government propaganda, RIA Novosti cites
IRNA.
The Iranian authorities arrested the 63-year old Saremi several times.
He spent a total of 24 years in prison. Last time he was arrested in
2007 when the PMOI was celebrating the ‘murder of political prisoners’
in Iran. After clashes between the opposition and police in late
December 2009, when over 15 people were killed and approximately 300
arrested, Salemi was convicted for fighting against the ‘sacred regime
in Iran’ and anti-government propaganda.
He underwent training in Ashraf camp in Iraq. Several CDs, films and
photographs of the PMOI's activies were found in Salemi’s house, as
well as hand-made documents for the organization.
The Supreme Court also handed down sentences to Jafar Kazemi, Mohammad
Ali Hadzhagayi, Abdolreza Ganbari, Ahmda Daneshpurur-Mogaddam and
Mokhsen Daneshpur-Mogaddam for the ‘war against God’.
A spokesman of the PMOI, Shahin Gobadi, said that the relatives of
those sentenced had organized protests at Evin prison and were
arrested.
The authorities of Iran take harsh measures against the opposition.
This is why many opposition members are forced to carry out their
activities from abroad. The PMOI leader, Massoud Rajavi, his wife and
head of the political wing of the organization, Maryam Rajavi, and the
head of the military wing, Amir Kazemi, are in Iraq and France.
The PMOI was founded in 1965 by Iranian students. The main goal was to
topple the pro-US regime and establish a socialist Islamic republic.
The organization supported the Ayatollah Khomeini in the fight against
the Shah. The revolution in 1979 caused the organization to split. The
PMOI is responsible for terrorist attacks. Bekheshti, one of the main
revolutionaries, was killed in a terrorist attack.
The organization became illegal and moved to France in 1982 and Iraq
in 1986. They carried out raids supported by Saddam Hussein in Iran.
The PMOI organized terrorist attacks during the Iran-Iraq war in
1980-1988. The organization killed over 12,000 Iranian and 25,000
Iraqi citizens.
The US forces gave control over the Ashraf camp to the Iraqi police on
July 2, 2010. It is located 60km to the north of Baghdad. The camp had
been under US control since 2003. PMOI forces were in the camp from
the 80s to July 2, 2010.
The US State Department put the PMOI on the list of terrorist
organizations in 1997. It was suspect to have links with Al-Qaeda.
After the US intervention in Iraq, the PMOI was neutralized and its
members were no longer considered terrorists.
In January 2009, the EU put the PMOI off the list of terrorist
organizations. The organization had been on the list since 2002. The
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the decision violates
the international norms and obligations of the EU in the fight against
terrorism.
