Operation against Basque lawyers and prisoner solidarity
On the morning of the 12th January Guardia Civil officers arrested 16 people (12 Basque Lawyers and 4 individuals allegedly linked with Herrira). Police searched several premises, including the offices of Basque Trade Union LAB in Bilbao.
Spanish Media said, citing police sources, that they had been arrested on terrorist membership grounds and fiscal crime (not declaring VAT and not paying social security charges).
3 of the Lawyers were arrested in Madrid where they were to act as defendants for 19 of the 35 individuals taken to trial for their political activity. The court case was suspended, awaiting news on the lawyers.
This operation took place after the huge demonstration on Saturday, January 10th, when over 80.000 people took over Bilbao to ask for the end of the dispersal policy and respect for prisoners’ rights. This demonstration was called by Sare. During the demonstration volunteers sold stickers and light-sticks, that were later used during the final event. The funds raised during the demonstration were taken for safekeeping into LAB’s office, until money could be counted and taken to banks, that wouldn’t open until Monday morning.
LAB’s Secretary General Ainhoa Etxaide and Sare denounced that those funds (90.000€) had been seized by the Guardia Civil. In fact, the Home Affairs Ministry released photos showing how the military officers counted coins and notes, and the took the money out of LAB’s office in the same bags it had been gathered.
One year ago several lawyers and former prisoners were arrested on an operation dubbed “Jaque” by Spanish Security forces, this operation seems to have been dubbed “Mate” (Jaque-Mate, means Checkmate as in Chess).
Protest were called all around the Basque Country on Monday and Tuesday 12 and 13 January and Social Media took #JeSuisBasque and #abokatuakLibre as main hashtags, which were trending topics for the whole day on the Spanish State. The video bellow shows the moment 6 lawyers were released on Tuesday night, in Madrid.
Trade Unions, social agents and political parties called a Demonstration for Saturday 17th January in Donostia (San Sebastian) under the slogan, Human Rights, Resolution, Peace.
Article brought from the webppage Basque Peace Process.
ARGIA is a news media funded in 1919 in Pamplona and published in Basque language. At first religious – called Zeruko Argia, "light of heaven” –, forbidden during the fascist dictatorship in Spain from 1936 on, in the 1950s and 1960s it had managed to come... [+]
In this series of articles, it should now have become clear that venture capital has created a system in which two types of companies become global giants: companies with bad business models but good marketing, or good business models and horrible impacts on society. This... [+]
One of the confusing aspects of the tech industry is that from a distance all the companies can seem the same. They use apps, have similar design styles, are based in hip urban centers, and strangely have millions of dollars without making any money. In part, this series is... [+]
After publishing Glovolizacion, a three-month undercover investigation into the working conditions of Glovo riders, I received almost entirely positive feedback from the general public and riders alike. Most riders felt ignored and exploited, and most readers were interested in... [+]
This is the third in a four-part investigative series examining Glovo’s business model and its relationship with the world it operates. Based on public statements by Glovo’s founders, this article will contextualize their world-view and the changes they hope to... [+]