The Department of Culture of the Foral Government has asked several municipalities in northern Navarre to leave their collaboration with Mikel Albave to energize groups of readers. In response to this, last week Aurizberri’s group of readers opened a document asking Mikel Antza, the literary name of Albisu, to work to leave him alone and, in passing, to keep the literature in peace.

At Tuesday's midday appearance, Mikel Taberna, Garazi Arrula, Ines Castiella, Josu Jimenez and Sagrario Alemán, five well-known names working in the world of Basque letters. They specify that they come to answer the attachment call made by Aurizberri's readers group.

“In fact – they say in the document – to this expression we have joined 37 dynamizers and 276 readers of groups of readers, and among them we find participants of 65 groups of readers from all over Euskal Herria. This movement of lands with epicenter in Aurizberri has crossed many areas from Tafalla to Baigorri, from Lekeitio to Pasaia. We would like to point out that almost a third are from Navarra, twenty groups of readers (nineteen from Nafarroa Garaia, one from Nafarroa Beherea). We believe that the Government of Navarra should take special account of this fact.”

They stress that Mikel Antza has been known for his literary works since the 1980s and that the Covite Victims Association now wants to deny him the right to work. Now, moreover, “the Government of Navarra, by simply accepting the will of this association, has adopted the role that would correspond to a court, demanding that they condemn a free citizen”.

The signatories of the document call on the Government to review the decision taken and to reject “leaving Mikel Anza free as any citizen, without interfering with literary activity and the dynamization of reading groups. Because, like all of us who dedicate ourselves to this task, readers are the only ones who have the legitimacy to decide what the measure of our work is.”

Request from Covite to the Government of Navarra

Covite spread on the 15th that Mikel Albisu works with various groups of readers. According to the Association, “reading groups are spaces for reflection and transmission of values, and delivering this platform to an ETA member is an insult to the memory and dignity of the victims”. Consuelo Ordoñez, member of the victims’ association, also considers that the situation is even more serious, considering that “he presents his position as coordinator with the pseudonym ‘Mikel Antza’ of ETA, which represents a complete claim of his trajectory”.

However, as you pointed out in your speech today, the literary pseudonym Mikel Antza predates the eternity of Albisu, and in the 1980s he signed works such as Suzko gezi bat (1983), Lehen bilduma 82-84 (1985) and Odolaren usain (1987).

For Covite, the activity of the municipalities that maintain this employment relationship with Albipe is “shameful” and “immoral”. In the next step, and at the request of Covite, the Directorate General of Culture of the Government of Navarra requested the public library of Aurizberri to suspend the working relationship with Albipe. As a basis for this request, the management refers to the Strategic Plan of Coexistence of Navarra, but not to mention what part of it is violated by Albisu with the dynamization of this group of readers.

The appearance can be seen in the following video of Ahotsa.info: