On the occasion of the welcome of 13 March 2022 to the former Basque prisoner Ibai Aginaga in Berango (Bizkaia), they have been called on 17 and 18 November to declare 15 persons before the Spanish National Court. The defendants have denounced in a note that, in addition to being “a judicial attack on individuals”, harassment and control of political organizations have been “revealed” in the reports submitted by the Ertzaintza, the Spanish Police and the Civil Guard.

They stress the need for a “defence of political freedom” through the collective response: “Repression does not have an individual but collective purpose, and the response to it will also be collective”. They invite the “Basque working class” to participate in the denunciation initiatives they will organise.

Accusation of “exaltation of terrorism”

The Basque prisoner Ibai Aginaga spent almost twenty years in prison and left Basauri prison in March. The welcome he was organized in the fronton of Berango in the village of Aginaga has given rise to a long rope. On 22 August, for example, three other persons had to testify before the National Court on the charge of “exalting terrorism”. The defendants explained that the act was private and that there was no crime.

The National Audience of Spain opened the investigation at the request of Vox, the Villacisneros foundation and the Dignity and Justice group. In addition, the Berango City Council (PNV) imposed fines of two months for the use of municipal facilities and two fines of 500 euros for pasting banners on the walls of the pediment and for “misuse” of the pediment.

Both Sortu and the Basque Political Prisoners Collective (EPPK) did not join the welcome as they had announced months before they would no longer be held publicly. Aginaga ceased to belong to the EPPK years earlier.