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INPRIMATU
The Basque Government's investigation concludes that the Civil Guards "Xenki" and "Murgi" were killed
  • On 2 September 1972, the Civil Guard murdered Joxe Benito Mujika Xenki in Lekeitio and Mikel Martínez de Murgia Murgi, members of ETA, in Murgia Murgi. Until now the official version said that they died in a shooting, but the investigation carried out by the Basque Government at the request of their relatives and the Egia Zor Foundation has concluded that the Civil Guard had shot in Lekeitio and, after 50 years, the Basque Government has recognised them as "official victims of arbitrary execution".
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Guardia Zibilak hildako bi etakideak oroitzeko ekitaldi bat. Argazkia: Lea Artibai eta Mutrikuko Hitza.

The government has recognised Joxe Benito Mujika and Mikel Martínez de Murgia as "official victims of arbitrary execution", and has declared that the Spanish police had violated their right to life. The Berria media has explained that the conduct of this investigation has gathered testimonies from witnesses who were on the same day of the crime and talked to one of the doctors who carried out the examination of corpses: "He kept all the information, and he remembered the case very well," the newspaper in Euskera told the Egia Zor Foundation.

Killings in a home in Dendari Kalea

Both were killed in a house on Dendari Street in Lekeitio. The medical report indicated that Mujika had received only one shot in the throat, and witnesses have revealed that the shot had been thrown by a sniper from the building in front of the house, when Mujika opened the door to the balcony.

In the case of Martínez de Murgia, the Government’s study has determined that he received twenty shots in the lumbar area, all behind. This belies the official version, because if there was a shooting, it wouldn't get them from behind.

In 2018 the Basque Government started the research at the request of family members and the Egia Foundation

The journalist Jone Arruabarrena, in the newspaper Berria, has detailed the development of this investigation: after many years of silence, on 2 October 2016 the City Hall of Lekeitio requested the Gogoratuz institute to open a study to make the truth known. Two years later, the relatives of the deceased and the Egia Zor Foundation resorted to the Government through Law 107/12, which entered into force in 2016 and asked him to investigate what happened. This law aims to give "recognition and reparation to victims of human rights violations in the context of politically motivated violence" between 1960 and 1978.

Tribute to Xenki and Murgi on 2 September in Lekeitio

The Egia Zor Foundation and the 50-year platform Xenki and Murgi have organised an event in which they will pay tribute to two deaths. On 2 September at 7:00 pm, a political event will be held in Lekeitio under the motto "It is time to know the truth", in front of the house where both members were murdered. The City Hall of Lekeitio will hold an institutional reception to the relatives before the act.