“Things were not clarified”
- The night he was killed at the police station of the Ertzaintza in Arkaute, Calvo, there was another detainee in the dungeons: M.U.M., a man imprisoned for the crime of smuggling. In his statement five hours after Calvo's death, he confirmed the version of the Ertzainas in general and left it free the following day. However, a year and a half later, in the trial, his lawyer stated that M.U had seen Calvo “tied like a flock” and that the Ertzainas “had mercilessly beaten with the batons.” At 30 years of the events, ARGIA has contacted the witness. He did not want to explain what he saw that night, but he said that they remained “unclear”.
He died at 5:00 on 20 August at the Ertzaintza police station, Juan Calvo, and testified to the Ertzaintza M.Uk at 10:30 hours. In general, M.U confirmed with his testimony the version of Calvo's death issued by the Ertzainas and the Department of Security: that by 4:30 in the morning Calvo attacked the Ertzainas, starting a struggle that would end his death.
Quotation between the smuggler and the Ertzainas
A few days after Calvo's death, an agent of the Ertzaintza directed a diligence to the investigating judge responsible for Calvo's death to report the incident with lawyer Raúl Martín Segarra. ARGIA has obtained the document.
The diligence includes only the version of ertzainas 02044 and 02039. According to this, three days after the death of Calvo, M.U called Arkaute and quoted the two agents at the restaurant Sarria de Vitoria. Upon arriving at the restaurant, the Ertzainas saw “surprised” with the witness who was accompanied by attorney Raúl Martín Segarra, who said “lawyer of tobacco smugglers.” The lawyer explained to them the reason for their presence: he told him his defense “not to make public things that are better”, and he wanted to know if they could “go hand in hand” because they wanted to help the Ertzaines. The Ertzainas replied that their intention was to “clarify everything with the truth” and that therefore they did not have to go with anyone.
The lawyer gave the Ertzainas a single clue of information that they had: “M.U. can count, for example, that Calvo was tied before the fight begins.” The Ertzainas replied that was false. However, the brands of Calvo's body in wrists are one of the main elements that question the story of ertzainas: lies, gaps and contradictions, as we have analyzed in the article.
"The Ertzainas struck mercilessly with the pores" (witness attorney)
“Tied like a pig”
A year and a half later, in the trial, M.U. confirmed the previous statement, which corresponded to the Ertzainas' report. Witness attorney Martin Segarra was also declared and the two Ertzainas met in the restaurant. They were contradictory, but the statements of the smuggler and both ertzaines about the quotation. Egin's journalist, Iñaki Iriondo, gathered the details in the trial chronicle: According to M.U.’s attorney, the quote was proposed by the Ertzainas and its intention was an “agreement” on M.U.’s statement, but according to the Ertzainas the invitation was from M.U. And his goal was to get a "favor deal" for smuggling in exchange for not making a "false" statement to the detriment of the Ertzaines.
The biggest surprise was given by another excerpt from the lawyer's statement. He pointed out that at the time M.U told him literally that from his window in the cell he saw Calvo “tied like a flock and that the Ertzaines beat him mercilessly with the goats.” To be able to declare it, M.U. previously authorized the lawyer to violate professional secrecy. As Iriondo collected in his chronicle, M.U showed no surprise when he heard the new version, and they both came together and in a good atmosphere of the court.
No clarifications
Did they do any treatment? What kind of treatment to do? Can the lawyer modify the trial version as a sign of a problem with possible treatment? And above all, of the two versions that the witnesses gave in the dungeons, what is the real one? We cannot know, but what the lawyer gives him would better explain the situation of Calvo's body.
Attorney Martin Segarra is dead, but M.U is not, and as I said before, ARGIA has met him. The only direct witness to what happened, in addition to the Ertzaines, has not wanted to answer the questions or tell them what was seen that night. After a long conversation, he authorizes ARGIA to publish a joint statement by attorney Martin Segarra ("As a Little Pig...") at the trial. And another, the phrase: "Things were unclear."
* This article is part of a broader report. Other articles and information:
- How and why did Juan Calvo be killed at the Ertzaintza police station?
- 30 years hidden in the light: evidence of torture.
- INTERVIEW | Patxi Bezares, worker of the Hospital Santiago who attended Juan Calvo: "That body was massacred."
- VIDEO | Juan Calvo: several episodes of the autopsy.
- Ertzainas and Department of Security: lies, gaps and contradictions
