Free!

At Berria:

All free

Four of the detainees have been released provisionally and the other five have had to post bail

Imanol Muria Uria – MADRID

They are all free. The nine people arrested for their connections with the Martin Ugalde Kultur Parkea and Egunkaria were released yesterday at the Spanish National High Court, four without having to stand bail and the other four on bail. Judge Juan Del Olmo decreed temporary release for Mikel Arrizabalaga, Angel Diez, Enekoitz Etxeberria and Amando Hernandez while still upholding the accusation; Mikel Azkune, Joanmari Larrarte and Xabier Legarra each had to post bail of 12,000 euros in order to be released, and Joxe Mari Sors and Mikel Sorozabal 30,000 euros each. In the end, the judge confirmed the petitions made by the Public Prosecutor. They were all released at midday and early in the afternoon at the Spanish National High Court itself.

The judge did not specify the exact crime that each of the accused had been charged with in the writ giving the reasons for granting provisional release to some and for releasing others on bail. In general terms they have been accused of taking part in a number of economic crimes “in the provisional charges”. The case continues sub judice.

When they came out of the National High Court they said that during the interrogations they had not been subjected to physical bad treatment, but they all said that the five days being held incommunicado in the hands of the Spanish Civil Guard had been very hard and this was evident on their tired faces. Among other things they had been obliged to have their eyes closed or to face the wall during the interrogations, otherwise when they moved from one place to another they were forced to keep their heads bowed and their eyes closed, some had had to stand facing the wall when they heard a knock at the door while they were inside the cell, and when they failed to comply with the Civil Guards’ orders or if they did not answer in the way the interrogators wanted, they were threatened. Mikel Sorozabal, for example, summed it up as “continual humiliation.”

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