- The association that brings together family and friends of Basque prisoners and exiles has made it clear that there are currently only 17 prisoners in prisons in the Basque Country. "The pressure from prison policy on prisoners and their Basque relatives has been somewhat reduced, but it is not enough," he added.
In recent weeks, the Spanish Government has brought several political prisoners closer to Hego Euskal Herria. However, according to the Etxerat association, these changes "do not respond to the demand of the Basque society, nor to the new cycle, nor to their expectations about a new scenario".
In a hearing in Hernani, spokespersons for the association Patricia Vélez and Urtzi Errazkin wanted to make it clear that, for the time being, "only 17 prisoners are in Euskal Herria jails, 3 of them at home, and another 173 and 31 are dispersed in the Spanish and French states, respectively. More information has also been provided on the degree of isolation of eta prisoners in the Basque Country: Almost half of the Basque prisoners in the Spanish State are between 600 and 1,000 kilometres, and in France there are one in five prisoners held between those distances.
In this regard, they have explained that although the pressure on prisoners and relatives has decreased "slightly" - since September 2018 the Spanish Government has brought 74 prisoners closer to those of 2018-, it is still "not enough". They have asked a number of questions: "Why not everyone to Zaballa?" Why Estremera? Why are there still 127 first-degree prisoners, the most restrictive and unable to move forward from the point of view of release from prison? Why do they not release, even more so in times of pandemic, those over the age of 65, the 18 seriously ill, the pregnant women and their children? ".
In his opinion, the answer to these questions should be sought in the "immobilizing" sectors that exist in the Spanish state, since there is a "lobby" that seeks to condition the steps being taken in penitentiary policy: "We all know who we are talking to," they said.
ETXERAT has called on both the citizens and the regional governments of the Basque Country and Navarre and the Spanish Government to intervene so that this lobby "does not block the legal path" of prisoners. They recalled that the fact that their relatives may be in jails in the Basque Country "is not a gift", since "they have the right to an ordinary legal trajectory".