The Basque government (its interior minister, Javier Balza) has forbidden the usual demonstration the Basque Patriotic Left Wing organises every year in favour of the rights of the political prisoners, the same day of the 2nd journey of ‘Kontxako Estropadak’, the traditional regatta-challenge of Donostia: the 14th of September.
There are more than 800 Basque political prisoners, isolated and dispersed in different jails along Spanish and French states. Many of them are systematicly tortured. There are lots of prisoners literally kidnapped, with serious illnesses or having finished their condemns. The pro-amnesty movement, Askatasuna, campaigns in favour of the rights of these prisoners, being this demonstration one of its most important acts during the year.
Although for the last 30 years it’s been legal and peaceful, last year, the demonstration was forbidden and the Basque autonomic police, the ‘Ertzaintza’, brutally stopped it; then, violent riots began between the police and the angry people. That’s why Balza, the interior minister, says he has forbidden it, “to avoid the riots of the last year”. (* See the video)
This prohibition, in the context of the last days’ political and police offensive against the Basque independentist movement, shows the intention of the Spanish and Basque autonomic governments, which prefer to continue with repression rather than finding a solution. But the people will protest and fight for the prisoners’ rights while they are being violated, so the demonstration hasn’t been cancelled.
