- Before leaving, the accused have thanked the support received at this Saturday’s multitudinous demonstration in Bilbao. They state that they are attending the trial with a message in favour of solutions, both in the area of prisoners and in “the different issues related to the solution”. The 47 defendants face a prison sentence of 601 years, so the trial will last for three months.
The trial in case 11/13 will begin this Monday morning and the defendants have left Madrid on Sunday morning. The 47 accused have appeared before the media at the Lopidana service center in the Alavesa town. It's not the randomly chosen place. Families and friends of Basque political prisoners meet there every week to travel to prisons. They have agreed on relatives and prisoners, before leaving in the vans of the drivers from Mirentxin to Madrid.
The defendant, Beñat Zarrabeitia, has made these statements on behalf of the defendants in the case. First of all, Zarrabeitia has thanked the great amount of solidarity received on Saturday in the streets of Bilbao: “It has been a very significant personal and collective support, which strengthens us a lot. We are very happy.” In addition to the message against the trial starting on Monday, he stressed that the demonstration also sent other messages: “The citizens on Saturday told the solution that the prison policy needs to be changed and that it’s time to look to the future.”
For the solution
The spokesman for the defendants said that they are going to spread the same message in Madrid: “Judgment brings us to a dark past, and we and society want to look forward. That is the message we are going to take tomorrow: that a solution agenda is needed on the issue of prisoners, but also on the different issues related to the solution”
Questioned about the possibility of reaching an agreement, Zarrabeitia has stated that, although the possibility is not ruled out, the defendants are at the heart of the trial: “We are not going to go into speculation. All trials have their tempus and their possibilities, but today we know that the trial begins tomorrow. We’ve come with the suitcase made.”
Three months
The trial will be held at the San Fernando de Henares Courts, scheduled for the macro-trials. This week the defendants are called to testify in court on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays of the An. Thereafter, the trial will be extended for a total of three weeks and will be conducted in two sessions. A total of 18 meetings are planned, which will last for three months.
Four kilometers after leaving the service center of Lopidana in the direction of Madrid, the accused have received the last gesture of affection. Some neighbors and neighbors of the town call us “47 in the village, kopon! We love you” have displayed a large banner from a bridge, with the vans about to pass underneath. The defendants have thanked for the gesture of a speaker.
