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INPRIMATU
“The Ertzaintza raids are not clearly in favour of public health”
  • Aitor of the Aramendi Tower was arrested on Saturday at the Ertzaintza Drugs Raid in Llodio. The citizen himself explains that his arrest had nothing to do with drugs, but with the attitude of some agents.
Aiaraldea @aiaraldea Aitor Aspuru Saez 2024ko otsailaren 28a

On Saturday the Ertzaintza carried out a drug operation and stopped him. What exactly was it?

I was on the street and my wife called me. I was in a scanning bar and I didn't have the ID at hand. I had to go to confirm his identity. When I arrived there were many cops inside the bar, outside… An ertzaina asked me who I was and told me to take off by pushing.

I explained that I was the husband of a woman who was identifying and who would take me off, but I wouldn't push. The ertzaina sent me in a corner and pushed me back.

I repeated it so I didn't push it back and asked me to identify it. I told him I didn't want anything. Instead of identifying with that ertzaina, I went to another one and identified myself. I told her my name and surname and ID. This other agent took the data smoothly.

Then the other cop came back and touched me again on my chest. I told him that in order not to do so again, that it was enough and that if I did, we would see what was going on. Then that ertzaina ordered others to stop me.

"When I was told I was going to be stopped, I asked them not to put the bordeaux on my shoulder, because I have a back injury. However, they didn't listen and half a hundred Ertzainas put me in a strong position."

My answer was: “All right, but I prefer the bordeaux ones and not the back, because I have an injury in one arm.” However, the police sent me to put my hands behind and told him no. Half a dozen more ertzaines came, and in the end I got the burgundy on my shoulder instead of standing in front of me.

They accuse me of resistance and aggression against authority. The truth is that only two agents have denounced me.

The problems continued after the arrest, right?

Yes, I was taken to the outpatient clinic to see if I was injured or not, and I asked them to release some bordeaux. They put me very hard and they hurt my wrists.

As they worked to relieve the pressure on their hands, they found that the keys didn't work. Neither the other, nor the originals… In the end, the firefighters came to cut the tips.

Been to Vitoria?

Yes, they took me to Vitoria and followed the usual procedure: photographing me, taking clues… I was freed at five in the morning.

You are in the trade union section of LAB of JEZ.Sus members denounced in January the implementation of such a raid, following a major mobilization for public health.

Yes, we denounce that these operations only serve to persecute young people. We believe that we need another police model that benefits the people and not against them.

"We need another police model that is for the citizens and not against them"

You were the only one arrested at the Saturday operation. What do you think these projects are aimed at?

I do not know, they are clearly not in favour of public health. Persecuting young people? Sure. In any case, there must be some other cause that is not apparent. But it is clearly not in the public health interest to explore young people in bars. Only young people are criminalized and no action is taken against the sale of drugs. They've found nothing in most raids.