Prosecutor’s suspicion: MEK organized cyberattacks against Iran from Manza

In Albania, the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime and Corruption suspects that the Iranian People’s Mujahedin (MEK), many of whom have taken refuge in the Manza area near Durrës in Camp Ashraf 3, have used Albanian territory for their executions cyberattacks against the Islamic Republic of Iran in different periods, as well as against several institutions in the Iranian state. For this reason, the Special Court, through a June 19 decision seen by Voice of America, granted the prosecution’s request to exercise control over the camp’s premises.

The prosecutor’s office registered the criminal case for a number of offenses: “War provocation,” “Illegal interception of computer data,” “Interference with computer data,” “Interference with computer systems,” Misuse of equipment” and “Group of structured criminal.” The alert was received by the Computer Crime Investigation Unit near the State Police, which has been monitoring several online sites and social networks that have published articles about cyberattacks against Iranian institutions, accompanied by the publication of numerous documents and personal data, including photos . and videos suspected of being hacked from government computer systems in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Also monitored were the data published on the social network Telegram by the so-called “JusticeHomeland” group, in which there were threatening messages against Albania for “not stopping the terrorist activities of the MEK”. It was this group that continuously published hacked documents and data of official institutions and authorities of Albania after the massive cyberattack on Albania’s digital infrastructure in July last year.

According to the prosecution, “in late 2022, there was an increase in threatening rhetoric from the Republic of Iran and its intelligence structures to carry out possible attacks, including drone strikes, against the MEK organization in Albania.”

The information provided to the court in the request to conduct checks at Camp Ashraf 3 shows that the “Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs forwarded a “verbal note” to the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that, according to reliable and documented intelligence, this was the case “The data provided by the security authorities of the Republic of Iran for three recently arrested terrorist groups revealed that they trained at the MEK Organization camp in Durrës.”

Taking into account the fact that the mujahideen have sought refuge in Albania for humanitarian reasons and are prohibited from engaging in political activities, as well as the fact that Albania has been subjected to constant cyber attacks from Iran in response to the activities of the MEK in Albania, the Special Prosecutor’s Office has asked to conduct the inspection in the premises of the camp in Manzë with the aim of finding “servers or other computer equipment that may have been used for cyber attacks from Albania.” According to the prosecutor’s office, “there are suspicions that members of the MEK organization are involved in criminal activities of terrorism and terrorism financing.”

According to her, yesterday’s police intervention was met with strong resistance from MEK members, as evidenced by several videos distributed by the police in which their vehicles are prevented from entering the camp, where numerous computer devices were also found and confiscated as written documentation.

Members of the MEK accused the police of using force, which according to them also resulted in the death of one of the camp’s residents. The accusations were rejected by the authorities on the grounds that no one can ignore a court decision or, even worse, try to prevent its implementation./Zëri i Amerikës/