Spanish MEP Francisco Javier Zarzalejos Nieto, addressed at the 2nd Day of The Free Iran World Summit on July 11, 2021.
It’s a pleasure to be with you, Mrs. Rajavi, and address all the people of Iran, who are following these Free Iran World Summit 2021 democratic alternatives on the march to victory. We are gathering in a time when someone under the most serious accusations of crimes against humanity has been installed as the next president in Iran.
It is an appalling evidence that Ebrahim Raisi based his career on promoting encouraging and holding the massive killing of 30,000 political prisoners, even Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri objected to these killings and in a secret recording released in 2016 he’s heard calling on Raisi and the fellow executioners, in my view, the biggest atrocity in the Islamic Republic for which the history will condemn us has been committed their hands and your hands, and in future, your name will go down in history as criminals.”
But Raisi publicly defended these killings as one of the proud achievements of the system. We, as a group of MPs stated in a letter right after Raisi was announced that European leaders and the European Union are faced with this hard reality. We cannot have business as usual.
We cannot close our eyes to human rights violations and oppression of women. We cannot ignore the Iranian regime of terrorism that has taken 85 million Iranian hostages. At this precise moment, we have to show our commitment to democracy and human rights and our support for the Iranian people to decide for free elections in a free and democratic Iran.
Last February, a Belgian court sentenced the regime’s terrorist diplomat Asadollah Asadi to 20 years in prison. Three of his accomplices were also sentenced to between 15 and 18 years in prison for plotting a terrorist attack against the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Threats of terrorism and abduction by the clerical regime double down on the need for a firm policy.
We have in Europe, a sanctions mechanism against the act. It’s a very important tool to hold human rights violators responsible for the crimes, such as Ebrahim Raisi, and any human rights violator in Iran accountable. We can push to put an end to impunity and use all our power to lure these from the European Parliament.
Mrs. Rajavi, I would like to tell you once again, that you can be sure of our support, that we thank you for letting us join you in this noble journey to be by your side along with the people of Iran.
And let me add that your 10-point plan is our shared vision for free Iran in the near future. Thank you.
