When on 20 February 2003 a court of the National Court took the precautionary measure of closing the Euskaldunon Egunkaria newspaper, many citizens expressed their surprise and disbelief to us. At first, I was surprised by that decision of the Court and so I said: on the one hand, before that measure I expressed my respect; on the other hand, I thought that it was going to be related to very serious crimes and that it was going to be absolutely essential, although I knew that the fundamental right to information and collection was being reduced; and finally, as the only newspaper that was published in full in Basque, I thought that the judge would study in particular.

That was my first reaction. Furthermore, and always with caution, he hoped that the measure taken would be so serious that, in a few days, it would be abolished or adapted quickly, and that other more appropriate alternative measures would be taken to relaunch the activity of the Journal, guaranteeing through this means of communication that serious crimes would not be complied with.

Of course, this did not happen. The days went by, the summary followed its course and the Newspaper followed its course, that is, what the Tribunal decided: its disappearance. And that, although the judge lifted that precautionary closure just over a year after the liquidation of the company, when the situation in Egunkaria had no remedy.

But the injustice committed did not stop there. Seven members of Egunkaria were prosecuted, denounced and prosecuted. It is true that in the end they declared innocent, but that too came too late. Later, above all, and as stated in the judgment given, because there were no criminal signs in their attitudes and because it was perfectly possible to know this from the outset.

However serious this is, it is not the only one that has happened around this case. Other abuses occurred with the closure of the newspaper. Some of the detainees in that operation complained of serious ill-treatment and yet the State did not investigate them, the courts did not do any work to clarify these facts, but some were denounced for slandering the security forces. In the case of Martxelo Otamendi, the European Court of Human Rights has condemned all this and condemned Spain, clarifying some of the injustices that have been committed in this State.

But the Egunkaria case is not over: on the one hand, the “economic summary” is still alive, although we do not know why it is being maintained and what progress it is taking. On the other hand, the Egunkaria case has caused the State not to recognize or repair all of them? You're caused.

Finally, I should like to highlight the positive aspects of the Egunkaria case: on the one hand, the many and varied expressions of social solidarity, demonstrating that unity is possible in the face of injustice. On the other hand, that there are no shortcuts against terrorism or other crime, that it is not worth removing an injustice from another injustice, that the dignity of all people must be protected and that the courts must be independent, decoupling links with other powers of the State and guaranteeing the fundamental rights of all. What did not happen was precisely in the Egunkaria case.