Several members of Ikasle Abertzaleak have today concentrated on the faculty of Letras of the campus of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Álava) to denounce the detentions carried out on that campus on 24 March. In particular, just a few meters from dawn, the Ertzaintza detained 34 people in connection with the pickets that were held in various schools during the student strike. "As is often the case, strikes make pickets and strikes will also take place in mobilizations. However, on that day the police entered the Elurreta area violently and many students were identified and arrested ", they denounced at the hearing.

The AI has reported that these arrests occurred by the decision of the Vicerrectorado General and the Vicerrectorado de Álava of the UPV/EHU. He pointed out that "it is barbaric that there are 34 detainees for committing some pickets" and considered that "it is barbaric". He added that the university is becoming a "police campus" and that what happened last Thursday may be "a very dangerous precedent for criminalizing any student strike and normalizing arrests."

Media criminalisation

Members of the A.I. have also denounced the "attempt to criminalize" mass media. They are accused of manipulating Thursday’s events and allowing a scenario in which detainees can be seen publicly. They say that "this is the function of the bourgeois media: to distort reality on demand."

Without political freedom

As they have explained, what happened in the last student strike shows that "in the UPV/EHU there is no political freedom for an independent student organization, because you cannot make politics freely if there is harassment at all times." "The UPV/EHU, although disguised as progressive, shows its true face in these situations: authoritarianism. The rectorado has allowed us to delve into the authoritarian tendency of society, assuming this kind of repressive acts where it should be free from persecution: in the university", they added.

On the other hand, they have clarified that "it cannot be admitted in any case" that the UPV/EHU uses police forces "in the face of political conflicts" as a "solution". "Which university is the one that allows its students to stop massively? 34 students who are allowed to spend the whole day in the cell," they asked.

Demonstration on Thursday

The IA has therefore called for "joining forces" to "end the university police model" and for the 34 detainees to "be released without charge". For this Thursday, March 31, he has called a demonstration that will depart from the Snow at 11:00 in the morning. The mobilisation will call for the total acquittal of detainees and the "authoritarian conduct" of the UPV/EHU will be denounced.