The last week of August the plaque was removed next to the sculpture in tribute to Mikel Arrangi Marín de Etxarri Aranatz, when they were at party in their native town, Lakuntza. On the plate there was a photograph of Arrangi, an oak leaf and a text: on the path of truth, dreaming of freedom; in Mikel's memory. The family reported the disappearance of the plaque. This is the third time that the plate placed next to the sculpture of José Ramón Anda has been removed, after those of November 2014 and November 2009. Since its establishment in 1980, the monument has also suffered other attacks: on more than one occasion it has been torn off the rails and on two occasions artifacts have been placed (trilite and Goma 2), one of them on 10 February 1981. After the restoration of the sculpture, it is located in the plaza dedicated to Arrangi since 2004.

Municipal declaration

The City Hall of Etxarri Aranatz said in a statement that the disappearance of the plaque entails "a serious aggression against his family, friends and the people of Etxarri Aranatz in general". That is why the City Hall of Etxarri Aranatz has transferred to the family of Mikel Arrangi Marín “all its solidarity”. The City Hall has announced that “it will launch political and legal initiatives to clarify what has happened, to hold responsible persons and to repair instead the plaque that has disappeared”. Finally, the City Hall of Etxarri Aranatz has called on all citizens to “engage in work for peace, democracy and coexistence, rejecting those attacks that only increase suffering”.

Received

The case of Arrangi is included in the Suffering Map of the City Hall of Etxarri Aranatz. “He was a councillor of Herri Batasuna in Lakuntza. On 12 November 1979, Mikel SEAT travelled in a 127 car with several friends when he was shot by members of the Civil Guard in a control near Etxarri Aranazti. The projectile reached his lung and, although he was taken to the Hospital of Pamplona, the doctors were only able to certify that he had died in the accident. According to the official version, the vehicle skipped a police check without anyone realizing the existence of such control. A civil guard was sentenced to two months in jail as the perpetrator of the councilor’s death.”