The trial between the defendants in summary 13/13 began this Monday morning at the National Court. Before entering the trial, Julen Zelarain has made statements on behalf of the defendants in the trial. He has denounced that the trial is "out of time and place" and that they are being tried for the second time for the same crime: “We have already been prosecuted and tried for the same accusation [belonging to ETA].” This has been one of the arguments put forward by the lawyers of the defendants to request the suspension of the hearing of the trial.

Lawyers’ petitions

Within the court, the first to give a ruling have been the lawyers of the defendants, who have argued for several reasons for suspending the trial. Alfonso Zenon, lawyer of Jon Enparantza and Arantza Zulueta, has denounced that the accusations against his defenders are based on "a lie" of the Civil Guard and that the presumption of innocence has not been respected. It has also called for the trial not to be issued directly - it is being issued on Youtube - and for the civil guards not to declare themselves with protective measures. The Qualifying Court has dismissed your requests. The lawyer of Naia Zuriarrain, Jone Goirizelaia, has denounced that the court is violating the non bis in idem principle, as Zuriarrain was already convicted of the same crime in 2019. Aiert Larrarte, lawyer of Julen Zelarain and Iker Sarriegi, among others, has denounced that the CNI hearings in Navarre were illegal.

After the lawyers have taken the floor Prosecutor José Perals and the popular accusations, which have charged all the petitions and demands of the defendants' defenses. The court has decided to continue the trial, to be held at the National Hearing.

Statements by the defendants tomorrow or the past

In principle, the statements of the accused will be made on Tuesday morning. However, Judge Murillo has reported that one of the jurors has just received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and that he has felt unwilling, so depending on his state of health, the trial will be held tomorrow or delayed in the past. The first to declare will be Arantza Zulueta.

No agreement

Unlike most of the macro-judgments of recent times, there has been no agreement between the defenses and the accusations. According to Naiz, sources from the Office of the Prosecutor have attributed the lack of agreement to the unwillingness of the associations of victims who are particular accusations during the trial. The defenses, for their part, have accused the Prosecutor’s Office of unwillingness to reach an agreement. They have also indicated that they have refused to consider the possibility of meeting and negotiating with the PNV in Parliament.

Petition for 77 years

Arantza Zulueta, Jon Enparantza, Naia Zuriarrain, Julen Zelarain, Iker Sarriegi, Saioa Agirre, Nerea Redondo and Juan Mari Jauregi are the Basques that the National Court has judged since today and all of them have worked for the rights of Basque prisoners. The Public Prosecutor’s Office calls for a total of 77 years in jail for the defendants, with personal petitions of between 7 and 19 years in prison. The trial began this Monday with eight sessions in July and eight in September.