Thousands of people, about 30,000, according to the Bilbao Municipal Police, have demanded this afternoon to put “final point” to “the violation” of the rights of ETA prisoners in a demonstration that toured the streets of the city under the motto “It cannot be extended any further” (cannot be prolonged any longer).
The usual march that the support network for the rights of ETA Sare prisoners calls at the beginning of each year to demand the end of “the exceptionalities” which, according to complaints, continue to be applied to ETA prisoners has taken place under persistent rain and amid cries of “Basque prisoners, go home“(the Basque prisoners, home).
Leaders and representatives of EH Bildu, Podemos Euskadi, Junts, ERC, CUP, BNG, More For Mallorca and Catalonia in Commonas well as the nationalist unions ELA and LAB and organizations such as Etxerat, ANC and Òmnium Cultural, among others.
The march started around 5:00 p.m. from La Casilla in the direction of the city’s Town Hall behind a banner carried, among others, by Rosa Rodero, widow of the sergeant major of the Ertzaintza, Joseba Goikoetxeamurdered by ETA in 1993; the singer of Doctor Deseo, Francis Diez, and Palestinian and Sahrawi activists.
Among the participants in the mobilization were leaders and institutional representatives of EH Bildu, among them, the general secretary of the sovereigntist coalition, Arnaldo Otegi.
It has also been seen Xabier Iraola (San Sebastián, 1993), proposed by the National Council of Sortu to occupy the general secretary of this formation after the departure of Arkaitz Rodríguez, current Secretary of Political Action of EH Bildu and, also, a participant in the macha.
“Violation of rights“
During the tour, the Sare representative Joseba Azcarraga has pointed out that “when tens of thousands of citizens take to the streets year after year demanding rights for Basque prisoners, it is because those rights are being violated.”
As stated, at this time “There are still 120 prisoners” in the prisons of the Basque Country and Navarra, of which “40 have been deprived of liberty for more than 20 years and there are more than 21 who have served more than 25 years of their sentences.”
“Many of these people today could be free, on parole or in an open regime serving their sentence if they were not under the application of exceptional measures“, he denounced, for which he has demanded that the political and legislative spheres “put an end” to this “violating situation.”
Azkarraga has recalled that this year he will do “fifteen years since ETA made the decision to end its activity” and he regretted that “15 years later, the rights of Basque prisoners continue to be violated.”
“Respectful” treatment of victims
Given this, he has advocated the design of a final framework for “conflict resolution” that involves “the end of exceptional measures” and “the release of all prisoners through the application of ordinary prison regulations”, as well as “respectful treatment of the victims of all violence.”
Among the participants in the demonstration, there has been Gerardo Pisarello, first secretary of Congress and deputy of Comuns, who, in statements to the media, has supported Sare’s request that “the penitentiary law be applied to Basque prisoners in a guaranteed manner.”
In his opinion, this afternoon’s demonstration in Bilbao constitutes an “antidote to those repressive hate speech that the extreme right is trying to impose on the entire world.
Also other representatives of participating organizations, including Love Gartzia (We can Euskadi) and Mitxel Work (ELA) have criticized the application of “an exception” in prison policy, while the general coordinator of LAB, Garbiñe Aranburuhas demanded that “in 2026 steps be taken so that all prisoners return home.”
