Free Iñaki Uria!

It's all fireworks, colored balloons and glitter all over Europe today, yet on that backwards swath of land known as Spain an innocent man is behind bars today for the high crime of loving his country, his language and his culture.

Oh yes, they are celebrating the addition of ten new members to that experiment known as the European Union, but no one, not the fifteen old members nor the spanking new ten want to accept the fact that in Europe there is a state that continues to apply an state of exception against an ethnic group, and that state is Spain.

If there is a extreme right party in power or if there is a center-left one makes little or no difference, the witch hunt against everything Basque continues.

In most countries if someone commits a crime and he is brought to justice there is supposed to be a timely trial were the prosecution is supposed to present the evidence that supports their case. Many times arrests are made after a long investigation conducted by the police, so by the time the detainee is behind bars there is already a case backed up with evidence.

Not so in Spain when it comes to the Basques, there all it takes for you to be behind bars is for a fascist little clown like Baltasar Garzon to put an eye on you. Any of the shady police corporations can abduct you in the middle of the night, hold you incommunicado for five days, torture you and transfer you to a far away prison were you will wait for months on end for the "justice" system to bring you to trial. You know as well as they know that unless they cook something sort of solid eventually you will be released, but for that you will have to pay a ransom disguised as a bail.

Money that could be used to strengthen programs at schools and other cultural outlets is wasted on paying off bails for people that were innocent to start with.

Family members and friends rally to put the money together, and when the bail is around 30,000 euros it is not impossible to come up with the amount, yes, that money could go towards schooling, home improvement or that little holiday that the family deserves, instead it goes into the pockets of some fat cat in Madrid.

But when we are talking 600,000 euros you know that Himmlers in training have just gone nuts. How can the European Union allow one of its members to harass an innocent citizen like that? Where is the outrage by fellow journalists? Were is the human rights organizations reaction to such craziness?

Inaki Uria is a journalist, he devoted his life to the advancement of Euskara, the Basque language. Not him nor his family and friends have the money to pay off his ransom, so I ask, what are the journalists around the world waiting for to come up on his defense, after 14 mounths the Spanish government has been unable to come up with hard evidence after raiding the houses of ten people and the headquarters of the Egunkaria newspaper, that means the man is innocent, to demand such a high bail is inhumane.

Here is the note to at Berria English:

"We have to get him out"

Apart from denouncing the injustice of the National Criminal Court’s decision Torrealdai, Otamendi, Zubiria, Oleaga and Auzmendi, who have also been charged in the case, believe the first priority must be to secure Inaki Uria's release

Imanol Murua-Uria – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

The first priority is to get Inaki Uria out. Those who have been released on bail and who were arrested together with the Managing Director of Egunkaria on February 20, 2003, all agree on that. They stress that Inaki Uria is also innocent, as are all those charged in the case, and that he is still being kept behind bars to justify the gross injustice committed with the closing down of Egunkaria.

"While Inaki remains inside, a little bit of each of us is inside," said Joan Mari Torrealdai, the former Chairman of Egunkaria's Board of Directors and Editor of the Jakin journal. He said, "We've got to get him out as soon as possible," but added that they would have to examine how. "The judge knows full well that Inaki doesn't possess such resources and nor does Basque Culture," said Torrealdai. He added that "everything is disproportionate" in the Egunkaria case, and even more so in Uria's case: "Imposing a 600,000 euro bail figure is an insult towards the person who renounced his professional career and wealth so that Basque language and cultural activity and the Basque cultural industry could develop, and towrds the person who has always lived on a meagre salary, and it's an insult towards Basque culture."

"It's clear that neither Inaki, nor we, who are close to him, have that kind of money," said Martxelo Otamendi, former editor of Egunkaria and BERRIA's current Chief Editor. "Because of our inability to pay, we will have to consider carefully what steps to take." Martxelo Otamendi added: "They are being very obstinate with Inaki, they are treating him extremely cruelly and we must respond in an appropriate way."

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