argia.eus
INPRIMATU
Ten years have passed since the Ertzaintza struck Iñigo Cabacas, and a tribute will be paid on Saturday
  • On 5 April it is ten years since a rubber ball launched by the Ertzaintza seriously hurts Iñigo Cabacas on the Labrit fronton. The tenth anniversary of the death of Cabacas will be celebrated on 9 April. On that date, on Saturday, a tribute will be held in Kirruli Square in the Bilbaíno district of Indautxu, under the motto "Justice has not had a day, love 10 years". Under the motto '.
ARGIA @argia 2022ko apirilaren 06a
Iñigo Cabacasen kasuari dagokionez justizia eskatuz 2018an egindako mobilizazioa (Argazkia: Ecuador Etxea)

The 28-year-old neighbour of Basauri Iñigo Cabacas Lizeranzu was seriously injured by the Ertzaintza on 5 April 2012. After the football match Tango-Schalke 04, people moved around San Mamés to play live. The Ertzaintza headed towards the Kirruli bar and, on the orders of UGARTEKO, responsible for the operation of that night, the agents charged those who were in the alley of María Díaz de Haro. "Enter with everything we have in the alley, enter the village (…) And then the situation will be under control," you could hear in the communications of the Ertzaintza.

The agents threw rubber balls at people, closely and in a straight line, against what their use protocol sets. One of them had a strong impact on Cabacas' head, seriously hurting the young woman, who has been injured. The young man died four days later, on 9 April, from the wound he received in his neck.

Without justice

The trial for these facts began in 2018, on the bench of the defendants, with six Ertzainas, all working in the place where the events occurred that night. Five of them were acquitted by the judge, who considered that there was no evidence of who killed Cabacas and that the author of the shots was acquitted. And on the sixth, Juan José de Pablo, who served as an officer of the area in the operation of that night, was sentenced by the Provincial Court of Bizkaia to two years in prison and four months in disqualification for "murder with serious professional recklessness". However, he will not have to spend time in prison after the Audience of Bizkaia has decided to do so. Although De Pablo assured in the trial that he followed Ugarte's instructions, Ugarte was not charged for alleged homicide offences.

When the events took place, the Chief Commissioner of the Ertzaintza in Deusto, Jorge Aldekoa, did not sit on the bench either. Moreover, two years after the death of Cabacas, the Basque Government Security Minister, Estefanía Beltrán de Heredia, proposed him as a candidate for the Ertzaintza. In 2018 he resigned in connection with the trial.

Last year the Supreme Court ratified the ruling of the Provincial Court of Bizkaia, and after all this process the relatives of Cabacas declared that they felt "beaten and humiliated".

As regards the internal investigation of the Ertzaintza, last August it was archived. No disciplinary sanction was imposed. Cabacas' mother, Fina Lizeranzu, and the Basque Government security advisor, Josu Erkoreka, were accused of aggravating their pain by the statements and decisions made.

Tribute on 9 April

Despite the injustice and impunity in the judiciary, citizens remember what happened. Hence the motto chosen by the Iñigo Cabacas Popular Initiative for the tenth anniversary of the death of the young person: "Justice has not had a day, love 10 years! ". With this motto they have called the act of tribute to Cabacas, which will be held on Saturday 9 April at 13:00 in Kirruli Square.