Lets Take Their Word!

Yesterday during a demonstration against the dispersion that took place in the very heart of the beast, Madrid, people shouted at the protesters to "do this in your own country".

"Your own country" meaning the Basque Country, so, I say, lets take them on their word and make an internationally recognized Basque Country so Basques do not have to demonstrate in Madrid anymore nor be called murderers for demanding that a murderous policy stops once and for all.

A lot of people has come to this site looking for info about Karmele Solaguren, who was killed in an accident while on her way to visit her son, Ekain Gerra, who is a Basque political prisoner. Oddly enough, no comments are being made. Hopefully is not out of cowardice, the Basques do not need cowards to witness their struggle and do nothing about it, the Basques need courageous people willing to speak out against all the injustice dished out to them, people willing to do something to resolve the situation.

Here is the note that appeared today at Berria English:

Dispersion of Basque prisoners denounced in Madrid

Four members of the ‘Zuzen’ group and two brothers of the Basque prisoner Amaia Segurola were arrested after a spectacular protest to denounce the accidents caused by the dispersion policy; they were released in the afternoon

Eider Goenaga

A serious accident in Madrid resulted in two people injured; the relatives of a Basque prisoner were involved in an accident on their way to make a prison visit. These would have been the opening lines of yesterday’s news item, if what took place in Madrid’s Alcala street yesterday had actually happened and had not been a protest. And it would not have been the first news item of its kind.

Zuzen action group members organised a spectacular protest yesterday to denounce, once again, the dispersion that Basque prisoners are suffering and the accidents that happen as a result. And they remembered especially Karmele Solaguren, who died on December 5 on her way to visit her son Ekain Gerra in Alcala Meco prison.

They staged their protest outside the offices of the Directorate-General of the Spanish Government’s Prison Service in the Calle Alcala in the very heart of Madrid. At about 13.30 hours two members of the family of Amaia Segurola, who is currently in the Dueñas prison in Palencia with her six-month-old daughter, plus four Zuzen members staged a mock accident. A car was turned over in the middle of the road, two people got inside and lay down, and red paint was poured everywhere. Segurola’s relatives and two Zuzen members stood beside them. They held photos of Karmele Solaguren, the flag demanding the return of Basque prisoners to the Basque Country, the Zuzen action group’s anagram and a red, white and green Basque flag or ikurrina.

The street was crowded at that time of day and people surrounded the Zuzen members immediately. There were moments of tension, but the Zuzen members refused to give in; those on the ground and the ones with the flags next to them stayed where they were. The protest continued until the police and fire fighters arrived on the scene. The police approached those responsible for the protest and arrested them immediately; they were given rough treatment as they were made to stand facing a fence looking at the ground while they were being frisked. The people close by applauded the Spanish Police officers and shouted things like “murderers” and “do this in your own country” at the Zuzen members.

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Christmas Present

What you are about to read is what I call true solidarity:

Zuzen and Demo members get into La Santé to demand transfer of Basque prisoners to the Basque Country

Eleven people climbed the wall and three of them, two Father Christmases and an assistant, went inside the jail

Nora Arbelbide, Special Correspondent/Paris

A total of 11 people climbed the wall of La Santé Prison in Paris. One dressed as Olentzero, two as Father Christmas and the rest in T-shirts of the Demo and Zuzen Ekintza Taldea action groups. They demanded that Basque prisoners be transferred to the Basque Country like the Corsican prisoners, who are being taken to Corsica. They climbed the wall at about 11.30 hours and stayed there until 14.00 hours. Two Father Christmases and an assistant managed to get inside. They had the chance to talk to the prisoners. Below, 25 members of "Demo" and "Zuzen" danced and sang to the accompaniment of music.

Those below were taken to the police headquarters at 12.00 hours. The others were taken at 14.30 hours. The 36 detainees spent the afternoon there and at 17.00 hours the 25 who had remained below were released, the rest two hours later.

It was the third time that a similar event had been staged at La Santé prison. There are about ten Basque prisoners there. "It's a symbolic prison. One of the oldest in the French State. Moreover there have been many reports, medical ones in particular, that show that the prisoners are in a bad situation," said Peio Etxeberri Aintxart, the spokesman for "Demo."

At around 11.15 hours a van stopped outside the main entrance to the prison. 10 metres from there they quietly took out two 10-metre long ladders. Both were put against the wall and 11 members climbed to the top of the wall step by step with the police looking on. There were a couple of police officers there, but all they did was watch. As soon as the other "Demo" and "Zuzen" members who had remained below had switched on the music next to the wall, the melody of "Hator Hator" could be heard, and the 25 who had stayed below danced to the music. With a microphone they cheered on the prisoners and those on top of the wall.

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