More than a thousand people meet in Vitoria to denounce the machista murder of Saturday in the concentration called by the Feminist Movement in the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca. On Saturday morning the body of Maialen Mazon, a 32-year-old woman, was found in a hotel apartment in Vitoria, along with her 3-year-old daughter. Her daughter spent hours in class until the arrival of the Ertzaintza.

Her former partner, related to the murder, was arrested in Zaragoza that afternoon. A 32-year-old man was travelling in a taxi to and from Valencia. On Tuesday morning he was transferred to the Vitoria Guard Court, as reported by the Basque Government Department of Security.

The Feminist Movement has stated that "it is the responsibility of the whole of society" "to reject all the accomplices that favor male violence and combat the aggressors". In cases of male violence, they pointed to the need to implement "quality protection and resources" for the whole process and denounced the "helplessness" suffered by Mazon.

Non-compliance with the removal order

Javi Roca, a former partner of the woman, had established a removal order that the Ertzaintza had known since January. Josu Erkoreka, first Vice-President of the Basque Government and Security Advisor, appeared on Monday to make statements on the case. In January the couple stayed at a hotel in Vitoria with a fake name. Aware of this, the hotel officials informed the Ertzaintza and learned that the Police had a removal order.

Erkoreka pointed out that the Ertzaintza contacted the woman and she requested the suspension of the removal order because "she did not feel in danger" and wanted to maintain the relationship with the man. The Ertzaintza carried out the arrest and informed the court of the case, according to the counselor. Asked why the man was not arrested, Erkoreka says he does not know. As the couple did not reside in Vitoria, the Ertzaintza did not follow the case.

On 18 May the Civil Guard of Borriana (Valencia) informed the Ertzaintza that Maialen was going to come to live in the Basque Autonomous Community, and then he contacted the woman again. The Minister says that she also made the same request in January, i.e. that the removal order be annulled because she was not in danger. "It's not easy to protect a victim who doesn't feel in danger." The woman stayed in a hotel apartment in Vitoria, also with a false name, according to Erkoreka.

Following the remarks of the counselor, in the reading of Vitoria the feminist movement has declared that it will not accept "misogynist readings that reproduce victimization". Send a message to Erkoreka: "Rather than giving time to justify themselves, to review the protocols, to identify what has failed, to put in place effective measures and to assume the responsibility that cannot be left by the institutions: to repair and ensure that it does not happen again".

More mobilizations on Tuesday

The World Women's March will denounce the murder of Saturday in the afternoon demonstrations in the rest of the capitals of Hego Euskal Herria. In Donostia, at 19:00 in the Boulebar, in Bilbao at the same time in the Arriaga and in Pamplona at 20:00 in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.