We have received more than 11,000 fines in the South Basque Country. More than 11,000 fines from the Army and Navy. And as if that weren’t enough, we can’t forget that in April 2016 the Parliament of Navarre rejected the Mozal Law and the Vitoria-Gasteiz Law did the same in June 2016. However, they have continued to apply this emergency law, they have continued to trample on our civil and political rights.

But where does this law come from? The violation of civil and political rights is not yesterday’s issue. Governments in almost all States have tended to silence dissidents, especially when citizens exercise their rights to organize, express or mobilize. The purpose of these violations is clear, to punish, to intimidate, to self-censor a society that seeks to transform to some extent the current model of society...

In the Basque Country we know this very well, we have been living for decades a structural violation of Civil and Political Rights. In “democracy”, the very important pillars of the exception architecture derived from Franco’s regime remained in place. 90.hamarkadaren in Ondarra and especially since 2001, the building was restored and new pillars were built, such as the law of the parties, the legal expulsion of citizen movements, media closures, the prohibition of mobilizations or the multiplication of crimes of opinion.

All of them, being exception measures, made no sense at all, let alone continue to add columns to the exception architecture in the current context. In fact, it has been 5 years since the armed action of ETA disappeared from the Basque scene. To the surprise of many, however, the exceptional measures that were maintained or created on the grounds of the need to respond to this have not been repealed. Moreover, in recent years the Spanish State has developed new measures against old and new dissidents. The most prestigious are the Mozal Law and the reform of the Penal Code.

From Eleak/Libre we went to the Parliament of Navarre and Vitoria. Although we are awaiting a response from the Vitoria-Gasteiz Parliament, we visited the Parliament of Navarre on 6 June. The result was that the majority of the political forces were in favour of the repeal of the Mozal Law. Thus, on the one hand, they agreed to reaffirm their public position against the Mozal Law; on the other hand, if the application of this law, which violates fundamental rights, is resumed, they committed themselves to make a public denunciation and express their support for the sanctioned. Finally, they accepted the commitment not to apply the Mozal Law and to address the means to do so.

This is encouraging news, but we believe that a response is needed as long as this law remains in force, and as long as the existing emergency laws continue.

On his day, to fight for Civil and Political Rights, we presented the Caja Raminta. The most spectacular results were the Free Zones and Popular Walls organized in the Basque Country. Then we launched the Anti-Repression Guide Book together with the other actors to explain how we should act in the face of the violation of our rights. And now we have released the Protocol for the Conduct of Disobedience before the Mozal Law. In other words, we have begun to address the defense of Civil and Political Rights through micro-disobedience and direct action.

In this regard, we have an important call on July 1st in San Sebastian and Vitoria-Gasteiz to demand the repeal of the Gag Law. But this will not be the only task, we must continue to mobilize against the laws of exception and in favor of our Civil and Political Rights until civil disobedience becomes real in the face of unjust laws. Let's get to work!

No to the Gag Law!! !

Maialen Begiritain, Joseba Álvarez, Joxe Aldasoro and Ione San Ildefonso are members of the Eleak-Libre Movement.