Torture against arrested and other news of repression against Basques

Bilboko Branka reports that some among the latest people arrested in Bilbao have gone through hospital because of lesions, a clear indication of ongoing torture at the hands of the Spanish military police corps: the infamous Guardia Civil. 

Daniel Pastor has been moved twice to the Hospital Clínico of Madrid because of lesions, which have been blamed by the police agents to himself. Eventually judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska has decided, probably fearing death under his custody, to significantly shorten the incommunicado period and take declaration to Pastor today. 

Iñigo Zapirain also has gone through hospital apparently but this is not yet confirmed. All four Basque citizens arrested two days ago are incommunicado in application of the anti-terrorist law which have existed since the formal end of Fascism in the 1970s. It is widely acknowledged that the only reason for the existence of an incommunicado period is in allow torture to happen with impunity.

The four arrested on Wednesday are accused of being part of a "legal" (not yet clandestine) commando of ETA and their arrests happened after the discovery of a depot with 195 kilograms of explosives and three pistols in Galdakao. 

It is not clear how the arrested would be related to the finding nor what specific accusations could be pushed against them.

Barman arrested on opinion crime

The manager of the social center Herriko Taberna (People's Tavern) at the Old Quarter of Bilbao, José Manuel Rivero, has been arbitrarily arrested under orders of Inquisition's judge Ismael Moreno for the "crime" of keeping pictures of Basque prisoners on display in this tavern. 

The display of such images, which are a way of reminding that their rights as citizens and prisoners are being taken off, is not any crime under any law but it is being criminalized by a coalition of pro-Spanish politicians, including some who pretend to be "Basque nationalist" like the mayor of Bilbao J.M. Atutxa, a genuine fascist who could well have been appointed as mayor by Franco himself. 

Source: Branka[eu].

Tasio Erkizia judged by the Inquisition for paying homage to Argala, a victim of Spanish institutional terrorism

Argala

José Miguel Beñaran "Argala" ("Slim")  was a leader of ETA under Fascism and a reference of  antifascism, as he was co-responsible of the execution of Franco's prime minister and dauphin, Admiral Carrero Blanco. Argala was murdered by Spanish death squads in 1978.

Tasio Erkizia, an elderly leader of the Basque Nationalist Left, took part in a homage to Argala in his hometown of Arrigorriaga in 2008, placing a flower on the monolith that honors him. On such grounds, the Spanish Inquisition has put him on trial for "apology of terrorism". 

Erkizia declared that he took part in that homage because he knew Argala personally from the University. 

I had him in great appreciation and I keep that appreciation and that flower was just in his memory. 

He reminded the judge that in that act he emphasized the need to take the path that best guarantees the future of the Basque Country and that such path is the one of political struggle.

Source: Branka[es].

Political party blocked by the Inquisition

In spite of making sure that the statutes of the new party Sortu fit the demands of the ad hoc Spanish law and jurisprudence, the Spanish political tribunal Audiencia Nacional (Inquisition) has paralyzed the inscription on unclear grounds, on request of the Ministry of Interior, which is doing all they can to make sure that there is no peaceful exit for the Basque-Spanish conflict. 

Source: Gara[es].