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The widespread protests following her death gave birth to the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Parliament once again urged support for Iranian civil society, at a conference held in Brussels on 22 September, 2025. Vice-President Nicolae Ștefănuță, Iran Delegation Chair Hannah Neumann and DROI Chair Mounir Satouri hosted a very lively debate with 2023 Sakharov Prize laureate Mersedeh Shahinkar, Sakharov fellow Aida Ghajar, UN Special Rapporteur Dr Mai Sato, Iranian civil society and experts.

The gathering focussed on the increasing internal, digital and transnational repression by the Iranian regime, the importance of collecting and preserving evidence to stop impunity and the need to target sanctions on the regime, not on the people. Watch here on Euronews.

EP President Roberta Metsola also honoured the movement when opening the first October plenary session, stating "I am proud that this House has stood on the right side of history and that the brave women and men standing up to repression know that they are not alone".

The programme includes a screening of Voices for Dawit Isaak, created by Austrian playwright Wolfgang Martin Roth. The film reconstructs the harsh conditions in which Dawit is believed to be held - a shipping container - and gives voice to his inner world, expressing his thoughts, fears, longings, and fragile hopes. The event will be opened by European Parliament Vice-President Sophie Wilmès and will feature a panel debate with Members of the European Parliament, Wolfgang Martin Roth, and Julie Majerczak from Reporters Without Borders.

· EP InfoHub, Brussels - 20 May, 11:00-13:00

Dawit Isaak was born in Asmara, Eritrea, in October 1964. He moved to Sweden in 1987 and later became a Swedish citizen. Following Eritrea's independence in 1993, he returned to help build independent journalism, co-founding Setit, the country's first non-state newspaper. In 2001, Dawit was arrested, following the publication of articles in Setit calling for democratic reform in Eritrea. More than 20 years later, he remains imprisoned without charge, trial or access to legal counsel.

Since his arrest, Dawit has been held incommunicado. He was last heard from in 2005, and Eritrean authorities have refused to provide any official information about his health or whereabouts. In 2016, Eritrea's foreign minister stated that Isaak was still alive and would be tried "when the government decides." Amnesty International regards him as a prisoner of conscience.

According to reports, Dawit has been held in solitary confinement, subjected to torture, and hospitalised on multiple occasions. His wife and three children live in exile in Sweden, deprived of any contact with him for over two decades. Dawit Isaak's fate is emblematic of the broader pattern of repression in Eritrea, where journalists are silenced and basic freedoms denied. For more than 20 years, Reporters Without Borders has consistently ranked the country among the world's worst for press freedom (RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025).