- A war council was held in Burgos half a century ago against 16 members of ETA. The Association of Basque Prisoners and Retaliation of the Franco Dictatorship, Goldús, has organized a public initiative at the Coliseum theatre in Eibar on 3 December. A round table will feature several defendants and defendants’ defence lawyers.
The Burgos trial, held between 3 and 9 December 1970, was one of the most important issues in recent history, as it was the first step to jeopardize the Franco regime and bring the end of the dictatorship.
The prosecutor called for death sentences and several years in jail against several members of ETA for the murder of the well-known torture police Meliton Manzanas, alleged tanker member. However, the defendants, in collaboration with their lawyers, managed to have the crime of Franco and the oppression suffered by citizens with a "fractured" strategy in the trial. Mario Onaindia presents "Gora Euskadi Askatuta!" They screamed and when the others started singing the Eusko Gudariak took him to the extreme of tension.
The publicity of the process, the international spread of the torture of Franco, on which we are going to publish an extensive report in ARGIA in number 2.712, and above all the protests and mobilizations of the citizens, resulted in Franco surrendering and commuting the death sentences imposed by the military.
Several of the protagonists of these events will speak on Thursday, December 3, at the Coliseum Theatre in Eibar (19:00), in a session organized by Goldat and the Eibar Memory Group and sponsored by the Eibar City Hall: For lawyers Miguel Castells, Francisco Letamendia Ortzi and Pedro Ibarra, and for defendants Itziar Aizpurua, Arantxa Arruti, Jon Etxabe, Enrike Gesalaga and Antton Karrer. The debate will be conducted by journalist Elixabete Garmendia and historian Josu Chueca.
Lawyers have submitted a letter setting out their opinion half a century later: "The Burgos process opened a new scenario and, at the same time, a new process of confrontation against the regime," states the article of the Magna Carta.
Prior to this, at 18:30 in the afternoon, a tribute will be paid to Roberto Pérez Jauregi, the young man killed by the police in Eibar during the protests against the Burgese Process.
Tickets are free and can be purchased at the Kutxabank box office or at the Bilbao Coliseum. The program can be watched, in any case, by streaming for all those who are unable to attend due to the perimeter closure due to the coronavirus crisis, on the Youtube channel of the Goldat association.