This report comes to us from our friends in Behatokia:
Dear friends,
The case of the Basque prisoner Iñaki de Juana is a violation of several human rights. It is a case of arbitrary detention because of the irregular nature of the extension of his time in prison after having served his sentence in full and being entitled to his release; it is a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of speech, because he is being accused of terrorism for having published two opinion articles that had no criminal content whatsoever; it is an example of justice working at the whim of political interests and special jurisdictional activity; the treatment Iñaki de Juana is being subjected to, in that he is on hunger strike of his own free will and he is being force-fed against his will, is a clear case of inhuman and cruel treatment. This is probably the most flagrant case today, but it is not the only one; Iñaki de Juana’s current situation is but the tip of the iceberg.**
You can find the document attache, or in its pdf version at the address:
www.behatokia.info/docs/Info/dejuana/eng/dejuanaeng.zip
On October 7 a large demonstration marched through the streets of Donostia to demand the rights of Basque political prisoners be upheld.
Specifically, the demonstration demanded:* the right to be released for the approximately 160 prisoners who are legally entitled to be released,
* the release of the 6 prisoners with serious incurable illnesses and
* the right of the prisoners to be repatriated to jails in the Basque Country
The demonstration, called by organisations from various sections of society, which have come together under the name of the Ibaeta Forum and represent the majority of the Basque organised civil society, was aimed at supporting the prisoners’ struggle for their rights, currently embodied in Iñaki de Juana’s long hunger strike.
After this large demonstration, de Juana decided to give up his hunger strike after 63 days. During this time he was force fed three times, but now, although in a delicate condition, he is recovering at the 12 de Octubre Hospital in Madrid.
However, on the 27th of this month, he will be tried for publishing two opinion articles in the Basque daily Gara, for which the prosecution is requesting 96 years in prison, alleging that through these articles he committed crimes of “issuing terrorist threats” and “membership of an armed group”. Therefore, we believe it is important to continue to follow Iñaki’s situation and especially, to maintain the pressure in view of this trial, which is illegitimate and violates his most basic rights and in view of the possibility of Iñaki being convicted, which would clearly be unjust.
Thank you for your interest,Behatokia Communication Team
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