Victims of the Dispersion

When a Basque is found guilty whether he is or not, is not only him the one that has to pay his debt to society, his whole family and loved ones get the bill.

Spain has a law lost somewhere which dictates that those serving time must do so at penitentiaries close to their towns.

The Basques are victims of a tool used by the Spanish justice system to tighten the repression against Basque society just one more notch, it is called "the dispersion".

Meaning, the Basques are put in jails as far away from the Basque Country as possible, as a result, their families and friends have to travel long distances in order to visit them. It is not only an economic burden, often, it is a matter of life and death.

The chances of being involved in an accident increase in relation with the distance you travel, if you travel 100 miles your chances of being in an accident are ten times larger than if you travel only 10. Yes I know, there is no scientific data to prove me right. But go ahead, see how fresh you are after driving for 1 hour, see how tired you are after driving 10.

The more tired you are, the more prone you are to be distracted, the more chances there is you could make one mistake, and one mistake is all it takes to get in a car accident.

And that is what just happened, and that is why the practice of the "dispersion" most come to an end.

For more information go to the Presoak and the Etxerat web sites.

Mother of Basque prisoner Ekain Gerra dies in road accident on route to prison visit

The parents of the Barañain-born prisoner had an accident in Soria yesterday morning; his father is in a very serious condition

Editorial Staff – IRUÑEA (Pamplona)

The parents of Ekain Gerra of Barañain (close to Iruñea-Pamplona) were involved in a road accident yesterday while on their way to visit their son. The prisoner’s 57-year-old mother, Karmele Solaguren, died in the accident that took place in the morning in the town of Noviercas in Soria (Spain). His father, Jose Luis Gerra, is in a very serious condition at the Intensive Care Unit of the Santa Barbara Hospital in Soria. The prisoners’ relatives support group Etxerat blamed the death on the policy of dispersion [of Basque prisoners].

According to the information provided by the Spanish Civil Guard headquarters in Soria, the accident happened at about 08.15 hours. The car in which Ekain Gerra’s parents, Karmele Solaguren and Jose Luis Gerra, were travelling stopped on the road. Karmele Solaguren got out of the car and was run over by a vehicle travelling in the same direction while she was speaking on her mobile phone. The woman died instantly. The vehicle crashed into the stationary car belonging to Ekain Gerra’s parents, seriously injuring his father. Jose Luis Gerra was taken to the Santa Barbara Hospital in Soria and is in the Intensive Care Unit “in a very serious condition”.

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