Solidarity rally with Basque political prisoners.

antrim | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Wednesday September 20, 2006 19:55 by Belfast Basque Committee basquebelfast at hotmail dot com

Inaki de Juana. 49 days on hunger strike.

PROTEST RALLY SATURDAY 23RD 12.30PM AT EUROPEAN COMMISSION OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BELFAST.

URGENT ACTION NEEDED.
BASQUE POLITICAL PRISONERS ON 49 DAYS ON HUNGER STRIKE.

On August 7, Basque political prisoner Iñaki de Juana Chaos began a hunger
strike to demand his right to be released. Iñaki de Juana should have been
released on October 25, 2004, after serving his sentence in full and having
spent 18 years in jail. However, the Magistrate at the First Penal Court of
the Spanish Audiencia Nacional (Spanish Special Court) Gómez Bermúdez, issued a decision dated October 22, attempting to contest the remission Iñaki was entitled to and to stop his release .

In view of the impossibility to maintain this line of argument, the judge
decreed his remand in custody for an alleged crime of membership of an armed
group and terrorist threats.

The basis for the accusations were two opinion articles the prisoners sent
to the daily Gara . This is depsite Audiencia Nacional judge Santiago Pedraz finding where Iniakde Juana expressed his support for the Basque National Liberation Movement –BNLM- which "is not comparable to ETA". He added that "this movement is not defined as a terrorist organisation" and therefore the crime of issuing terrorist threats was not proven.

Following this decree the Spanish media unleashed a campaign against the judge's decision.The Spanish Minister for Justice, stated "we shall build new charges so that they are not released!" The State General Prosecutor, Cándido Conde Pumpido,
said "we shall continue to oppose his release insofar as it is legally possible" and appealed Pedraz's decision. As such a new request for a 96 year prison sentence was put forward by these bodies.

In these circumstances, Iñaki believes he has no other way forward but to go
on an open-ended hunger strike, even if he it takes him to his death.
Therefore, we are calling for active solidarity towards Iñaki and we are
issuing a call to international public opinion to denounce the lack of
legitiamacy of the new charges against him and to demand his right to be
released.

This is a call to all groups and people in solidarity, to express their
protest to Spanish consulates and embassies and to send their messages to
the addresses of the following people, directly responsible for Iñaki de
Juana Chaos' situation.

HELP SAVE INAKI’S LIFE!!!

~SEND SOLIDARITY MESSAGES TO INAKI THROUGH: irishbasques@hotmail.com

~BELOW PLEASE FIND A DRAFT LETTER THAT CAN BE COPIED AND SENT TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESSES (by email or by post) OUTLINING YOUR SUPPORT FOR INAKI DE JUANA AND YOUR OPPOSITION TO THE CLEAR ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT.

(Spanish Embassador in Ireland)
D. José de Carvajal Salido
Spanish Embassy in Ireland
17A, Merlyn Park, Ballsbridge Dublin
Tel: 269 16 40
Fax: 269 18 54
Email: embespie@mail.mae.es.

(Spanish Prime Minister)
José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero
Presidente del Gobierno Español
Palacio de la Moncloa,
Avda. Puerta de Hierro, s/n.
28071 Madrid
España
jlrzapatero@presidencia.gob.es
Fax: 0034 913900217

(Spanish Special Court's President)
Carlos Divar Blanco
Presidente Audiencia Nacional
C/ García Gutiérrez, 1
28004 Madrid
España
Fax: 0034 913973381

(Spanish Prisons' Director)
Mercedes Gallizo Llamas
Directora General de Instituciones Penitenciarias
C/ Alcalá, 38-40
28014. Madrid
España
Fax: 91 335 40 52

DRAFT EMAIL/LETTER:

We the undersigned are calling for the immediate release of Iñaki de Juana and
that the call for 96 years by the the Third Section of the Audiencia Nacional Penal Court in prison clearly is an abuse of fundamental human rights. Given the fact that Inaki de Juana has already served 18 years in Spanish prisons and as such is entitled to remission and therefore immediate release it is imperative that Iñaki de Juana is released without further delay.

Iñaki de Juana should have been released on October 25, 2004, after serving
his sentence in full and having spent 18 years in jail. However, the Magistrate at the First Penal Court of the Spanish Audiencia Nacional (Spanish Special Court) Gómez Bermúdez, issued a decision dated October 22, attempting to contest the remission Iñaki was entitled to and to stop his release violating the universal right to release of those who have served their sentences in full.

At a time when there is a possibility of real and meaningful dialogue in the
Basque Country in the search for a resolution to the conflict this decision
is of no benefit to the chances for a lasting resolution in the Basque Country and any goodwill by the Spanish Government. We are also appealing that the declaration by Audiencia Nacional Judge Santiago Pedraz, who rejected the charges brought against Iñaki de Juana, be respected and that political interference with the judicial process is ended.