On Friday, April 10, 2026, an online conference was held to commemorate members of the PMOI and rebellious youth who gave their lives, under the theme of calling for urgent action to stop the execution of political prisoners from the PMOI, activists, and brave rebellious youth. Members of Ashraf participated online, alongside a number of prominent political and legal figures, including former German Justice Minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin, former German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, former Speaker of the British House of Commons John Bercow, and several other European political and legal personalities.
At the opening of the conference, Maryam Rajavi delivered a wide-ranging speech in which she greeted the participants, political prisoners, and PMOI members in Ashraf 3, and described the recently executed victims as “martyrs of freedom and peace.” She said the execution of these young people in the midst of an external war shows that the Iranian regime considers the rebellious people and the organized resistance its main enemy, and is trying to protect its crumbling rule by escalating executions and repression. She stressed that this bloodshed will not extinguish the uprising but will intensify it, because the martyrs paid the price for freedom and independence and frustrated the calculations of the regime, the remnants of old despotism, and the fake anti-democratic alternatives.
Rajavi added that the Iranian Resistance has carried the banner of peace and freedom for 45 years and has paid a heavy price in confronting both war and repression. She said lasting peace in Iran and the region can only be achieved by overthrowing the religious dictatorship through the Iranian people and their organized resistance and by establishing a democratic republic. She also argued that stopping executions must be included as a fundamental clause in any international agreement, because the daily execution of young people reflects the nature of a regime that survives through violence and force. She called for free elections under UN supervision and said the Resistance has for decades been ready to participate in any fair process that reflects the sovereignty of the people rather than the sovereignty of the mullahs.
Rajavi also focused on a new generation of Iranian youth who have joined the resistance, saying this generation is the product of long endurance in the face of black propaganda, systematic distortion, and efforts to erase the name of the PMOI from public memory. She said the regime spent years demonizing the resistance and producing hundreds of media works and fabricated books, but failed to sever the bond between the movement and society. She explained that the sacrifices of PMOI members and rebellious youth exposed the falsehood of international silence and indifference toward the crimes committed against them, and that their blood has sent a new message of resilience and uprising.
She also referred to the massacres targeting PMOI members since the 1980s, including the 1988 massacre, and the later campaigns of assassination, siege, and attacks in Ashraf and Liberty. She argued that all those attempts failed to destroy the movement, and instead produced generations even more determined. She paid tribute to the families of the martyrs, especially the steadfast mothers and fathers, saying they were at the forefront of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign and would continue to carry the banner of dignity and steadfastness.
For her part, Professor Dr. Herta Däubler-Gmelin, lawyer and former member of the German Bundestag, expressed deep sorrow over the young men and women who were executed and described what they endured as “double injustice”: imprisonment, isolation, torture, and then killing. She said anger and contempt are present alongside grief, because responsibility lies with the political, religious, and military leaders who run a killing machine devoid of moral or legal legitimacy. She stressed that these criminals will one day be tried in a free and just society, and that history remembers heroes and erases killers. She also said supporting the Iranian Resistance and its democratic demands is a duty for free politicians in Europe.
Franz Josef Jung, the former German defense minister, said the recent executions reveal the regime’s fear of the organized resistance, and that freedom is not granted by dictatorship but seized through the people. He stressed that war does not topple despotism, and that democratic change must come from within through the will of Iranians, the courage of youth, and the organization of resistance forces. He called for support for Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan, including free elections, freedom of expression, freedom of organization, abolition of the death penalty, separation of religion and state, gender equality, dissolution of the Revolutionary Guards, and a non-nuclear Iran.
John Bercow, the former Speaker of the British Parliament, said that participating in the gathering was a great honor, and that honoring the martyrs represents a moral and political commitment in the face of crime and despotism. He said standing with the Iranian people goes beyond symbolic solidarity and means supporting their right to freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. He added that the memory of the martyrs will remain alive and their sacrifices will continue to drive international pressure to end executions and stop the machinery of repression. He also said that Rajavi, the NCRI, the PMOI, and the heroes of Ashraf 3 believe in freedom, “and freedom is an idea that cannot be executed.” He added that the Iranian regime may kill people, but it cannot kill an idea, and that the cause will not die but will triumph.
Jean-François Legaret, former mayor of Paris’s 1st district, said the need for dialogue is greater than ever amid conflicting narratives. He argued that the Iranian regime has not changed but has become more hardline, and that the recent executions prove this. He added that military strikes will not topple the regime and cannot produce democratic transition. He criticized the promotion of the Shah’s son, saying he lacks legitimacy and experience, and stressed that the faces of those executed remind the world of thousands of victims and push everyone to continue the struggle.
Jean-Pierre Béquet, former member of the French National Assembly, said the recent executions express the weakness of the repressive regime, stressing that changing it will only happen through the struggle of the Iranian people and effective international support. He called for an immediate halt to executions and support for the Iranian Resistance’s Ten-Point Plan, saying freedom will be achieved soon through the will of the Iranian people.
In a deeply emotional and political speech, prominent French lawyer Jean-Pierre Spitzer reviewed 24 years of legal struggle alongside the Iranian Resistance. He said the movement’s victories in international legal battles were not merely courtroom wins, but victories for truth over the fake news that sought to brand the movement as terrorist or ideologically distorted. “The only terrorists in this field are the mullahs,” he said. Spitzer praised Rajavi’s decision in 2002 when she told him, “We choose law,” a path which he said has now proven its effectiveness through the designation of the Revolutionary Guards as terrorists. He also announced the publication of his new book, “Une belle cause,” documenting the legal defense of the Iranian Resistance.
He concluded with a message to European leaders urging them “not to be afraid” of supporting the resistance and described the struggle led by the Iranian people as a “just war.” He renewed his old promise to Rajavi that he would accompany her to Tehran, saying he would wear his legal robe there not to defend the resistance as defendants, but to stand as a civil plaintiff against the executioners who shed the blood of the martyrs and thousands of activists until they are brought to justice.
At the end of the conference, the speakers agreed that the messages of the martyrs, the sacrifices of political prisoners, and the steadfastness of their families confirm that Iran stands at the threshold of a new phase, whose defining themes are rejection of executions, rejection of dictatorship, and movement toward an organized democratic alternative.
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