Former Basque prisoner José Ramón López de Abetxuko will give a talk this Tuesday, at 12:30 a.m., in a classroom of the UPV campus in Vitoria-Gasteiz. "Severely ill prisoners at home" is the title of the conference that Abetxuko will offer along with attorney Txema massacres and that has been organized by Sare at the request of a group of students, as they have explained.

The Covite Violence Victims Association asked the UPV/EHU on Saturday to suspend its speech on the grounds that it is "very serious" for Abetxuko to deliver that conference. The petition for a ban argued that he was imprisoned for the murder of a Abetxuko police officer and that he could not appear as a "reference" to the students.

The UPV/EHU has dismissed Covite’s request to take over the investigation. In a statement on the case, he argued his "commitment to the freedom of expression of all political ideas and sensitivities". In the face of this decision, Covite has criticized UPV/EHU Director Nekane Balluerka for "giving room to a murderer" at the university.

Due to the tumult, Sare appeared on Monday. In addition, he showed his "utmost respect" to the victims and asked that they not be used "in a partisan way". He said that no one has the right to restrict freedom of expression and that he does not understand the text generated by the topic to be discussed in the speech, since the issue of seriously ill prisoners has been dealt with in several institutions. In this sense, Sortu has pointed out that one wants to "cover a concrete suffering".

Concentration against discourse

Following the decision of the UPV/EHU to continue the speech, the Contrarians have called for a protest rally. The meeting was convened by the association Esteban Garibai on the campus of Vitoria-Gasteiz, at 12:15 a.m., one hour before the colloquium. According to the journalist of Berria Igor Susaeta, the government delegate in the Basque Country, Jesús Loza, has also been opposed.