A Basque Political Prisoner Dies 1,000 kilometres from Home
Basque political prisoner Xabier Rey Urmeneta has died in Puerto de Santa Maria Prison (Cadiz, Spain), more than 1,000 kilometres from his home in Iruñea.
The 38-year old Iruñean had been in prison since his arrest in 2008, and he had spent long periods in solitary confinement. Rey had been accused of being a member of ETA and sentenced to 26 years in prison; during the trial he claimed that the Spanish police had tortured him.
The Spanish State's Responsibility
Many media stated that Rey had committed suicide, but Etxerat, the Basque prisoners' relatives' association, holds the Spanish State's "destructive" prison policy entirely to blame: "His death could have been avoided".
According to the association, Basque prisoners are "systematically" given "first degree" treatment, and visits to them are made as difficult as possible. "Xabier Rey's relatives have had to travel 1,050 kilometres de visit him at Puerto de Santa Maria Prison for 10 years. It is cruel for them to have to make the same journey to bring his corpse home."
There have been many protests and demonstrations about Rey's death in Iruñea and throughout the Basque Country.
This article was translated by 11itzulpen; you can see the original in Basque here.
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... [+]