In December 2016, Jean Noel Etxeberri Txetx and Beatrice Molle are charged with possessing and transporting ETA weapons. Several trade unions and agents who were part of the social forum have thanked and supported the work of peacemakers in the cause of ETA’s disarmament and have called for the exculpation of Etxeberri and Molle. On April 3, meetings will be held in the seven capitals, under the motto La exculpación, to definitively open a new era in Euskal Herria.
The hearing was presented by Agus Hernan, human rights activist, and Begoña Atxa, representative of the Citizen Network, with the intervention of ELA Secretary General Mitxel Lakuntza, and Igor Arroyo, general coordinator of LAB. In addition, Bilgune Feminist, Etxerat, Egia Zor, Gernika Batzordea and other agents and unions have been present. They recall the appearance of 16 March in Luhuso (Lapurdi). There, 200 people met to support the peacemakers and ask for their exculpation.
In the hearing they stressed that the involvement of Basque society has been and will be “necessary” in the tasks necessary for the resolution of the armed conflict. Furthermore, they recalled that in the recognition of all victims, in memory and in the right to truth and in the area of prisoners there is still something to do: “We cannot forget that we have not yet overcome the exceptional penitentiary policy that applies to Basque prisoners”.
Facing obstacles
Lakuntza stressed that the choice of those who will judge in Paris to promote “peace” and “coexistence” is “absurd” to judge. They also paid tribute to Mixel Berhokoirigoin, Mixel Bergouignan and Michel Tubiana. They were arrested for participating in the operation and died before the trial.
In the same vein, Arroyo has stated that the process of achieving peace in the Basque Country is “extraordinary”: “On the one hand, we have suffered the political, legal and political barriers of both states. On the other hand, there is the work done by both the Abertzale Left and other social actors and unions to deal with the obstacles”. He adds that today they continue to obstruct and is an example of this judgment.