It has recently been known that the Provincial Court of Álava has ratified the sentence condemning Eliseo Gil, which adds a rather ridiculous fine of six euros a day for six months. The reasoning of both the judge who issued the judgment and the Hearing can be summarised as follows: Of the 39 pieces analyzed by geologist José Vicente Navarro, official of the IPCE of Madrid, 36 are false, as they have found modern metal remnants (about 25 different types of metals). And although after several interrogations and records have found no evidence against Eliseo Gil, they are “convinced” that he has been the author “mediato or what it is”, that is, others (third parties) might be, but knowing himself.

The breakdown of the chain of custody, i.e. the fact that the graphites were in the hands of the complainant (i.e. the Representative) for years, is of no importance, since the honesty of this institution cannot be called into question, in addition to the fact that she was more interested than anyone else than the findings were real. They had the slippery subject of demotivation, the lack of mobility of the Elysées, and that has been resolved suddenly by remembering the ambition and complexity of the human condition.

The judgment of the hearing disregards the expert report submitted by the defence at the trial by geologist Mikel Albisu, in which it is demonstrated through laboratory sessions that if the recordings were modern the density of the metals would be almost ten times greater than that shown in graphites, and that these metal remains could be the result of the cleaning process and new manipulations. In addition, the sentence dares to say that if no crusts appear on the stretch marks of the pieces, these graffiti are new. Therefore, the graphites displayed in these museums must also be new, as they are almost always clean.

In short, an insult to justice. A judgment has to be convincing, understandable to anyone. It cannot be an exercise of imagination the attempt to justify what cannot be justified, the attempt to prove what cannot be demonstrated. And on this occasion, the judgment should recognize that the misdemeanour of graffiti has not been proven, and therefore authorship.

Almost fifteen years have passed since the graffiti was presented, but we are still convinced that this party will last a long time. Scientific debates must be decided by scientists and not by judges. Let them do the necessary tests on all the pieces, starting with the almost three hundred that have been left out of judgment; let them clean the twenty boxes that have been taken in the last times of excavation; and let the institutions, the Council of Álava and the Basque Government, in this case, open the way to science.