25/06/2026 | 17:13:27 I would like to thank all the participants for their interventions, their contributions, to this serious case. Thank you for the incidents you have mentioned. Of course, the incidents of transnational repression against everybody are not acceptable. It is more than obvious and critical that we cannot allow transnational repression to ruin our democracies. I first want to make clear that it is not the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) system or the judiciary at stake. What... 25/06/2026 | 16:32:40 Madam President, Dear colleagues, We often operate under the wrong assumption that once a forcibly or self-exiled political dissident, journalist or human rights defender escapes the borders of an oppressive regime, their plight ends. Unfortunately, as instances of foreign interference increase in frequency and severity, authoritarian regimes are finding new sophisticated ways to subjugate, silence, intimidate and punish their opponents far beyond their home borders. This is not a rare or... 29/01/2026 | 13:06:53 (Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2) Dear Colleagues, The right to self-determination together with the right of peoples and states to determine their own futures free from external interference is a core principle of international law. In reality, almost the totality of the problems and misery in the Middle East comes as a result of the denial of the principle of self determination at the beginning of the 20th century. At the same time, colonialism and foreign intervention... 09/04/2025 | 19:51:02 Thank you. I wish to thank all the interventions. And what comes out from the interventions is that it is obvious that we need a stronger political will. Governments must treat judgments as opportunities to prove, to reform, and to progress. The second is that national parliaments need to play a more active role in overseeing implementation. Transparency, accountability, and civil society participation are crucial. The third is that we must strengthen the tools at the disposal of the Council... 09/04/2025 | 18:55:48 Thank you, Madam Chair. Friends, This is an important year. This year is the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Convention and the Court are monumental achievements in the history of our continent. Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) have led to the release of political prisoners; protections of speech, assembly and association that are the bedrock of democratic life; the decriminalisation of homosexuality; the development of fairer trials; an... 02/10/2024 | 16:42:48 Thank you. Thank you, Mister President. As rightly stated by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Mr Theodoros ROUSOPOULOS, whilst we are all aware of the immunities accorded to us as members of the Assembly, this is the first time that such a matter comes before the Assembly. And importantly, we should welcome the fact that Mr Marcin ROMANOWSKI's immunity as a member of the Assembly was recognised and respected by the authorities. This was not obviously going to be the case when the... 02/10/2024 | 10:27:27 Thank you for this very revealing report. This must be a wake-up call. The ASSANGE case must truly be a wake-up call for the future in the face of the suppression of political freedoms for European citizens in the name of an abusive political correctness. The unfair treatment of Mr Julian ASSANGE is shocking. This is an obstacle to the defence of human rights, and especially media freedom and freedom of information. Mr Julian ASSANGE was instrumentalised in order to create a climate of fear... 27/06/2024 | 16:05:06 Mister President. In 1974, Türkiye invaded Cyprus and with the exception of the 1956 invasion of Hungary by the USSR and Prague in 1968, Europe had not encountered such an invasion since the Second World War. Forty-eight years later, Europe has once again experienced a flagrant violation of international law in the form of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Fifty years have gone past since the Turkish invasion – half a century during which period we have seen helplessly the erasure of... 26/01/2024 | 10:45:28 Thank you, thank you my compatriot President. I would like to first start by congratulating Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ for his excellent report. This report raises awareness about the many forms of abuse perpetuated in public and private institutions against children in Europe for decades. It reaffirms the Council of Europe's member states' commitment to combat violence against children in Europe and the intent to open a debate on how to acknowledge the true dimension of the problem, and the need... 24/01/2024 | 19:46:49 Thank you, all of you, for your contribution to this discussion, which is a very sensitive issue. Yes, I can say that isolation is, according to the European Court of Human Rights judgments and CPT, a method of ill treatment, if not torture. The deprivation of freedom must be limited only to that, and not extended beyond that limit. This is a principle which everybody, every single state must obey. Yes, the use of technology against torture is something which we have to proceed with. There is...