BASQUE POLITICAL ACTIVIST SPENDS 75th BIRTHDAY IN JAIL FOR FOUNDING A NEWSPAPER

international | rights and freedoms | news report Saturday March 13, 2010 16:44 by Inaki Irigocien and Diarmuid Breatnach - Personal capacities

Basque activist sentenced to 12 years for founding a newspaper, reduced to eight years on appeal

Jose Luis Elkoro Unamuno, a political activist for Basque self-determination for most of his life, also elected Mayor of his town, jailed for founding the newspaper Egin, which the Spanish state closed down years ago. Even though a court last year declared the closure to have been illegal, Jose Luis remains in a Spanish jail, far from his family and friends.

Basque political activist Jose Luis Elkoro Unamuno

Jose Luis Elkoro Unamuno will turn 75 years of age on the 14th of March. There may be a party for him but if so he won’t be able to attend – he’ll be in a Spanish jail. Jose Luis is currently serving a prison term, sentenced by the special court under Spain’s ‘anti-terror’ laws (this legislation and its implementation have been variously criticised by Amnesty International, by a United Nations committee and by Rapporteurs of the European Union).

Basque political activist Jose Luis Elkoro was born in 1935 and has a long history of working for the rights of the Basque Country. He began during the Franco dictatorship and with the help of the social movements of Bergara was elected town mayor. From that base he led the movement of town mayors that organized the first social movements in support of the rights of the Basque Country. Jose Luis went on to be one of the founding members of Herri Batasuna, main political party of the Basque patriotic Left but banned in Spain (though not in France). While it was still legal he served on its National Executive.

Since then Jose Luis has always been involved in the politics of his nation, as elected mayor, as senator in Madrid, or as an activist of the Ezker Abertzalea (Basque Patriotic Left). During his political career Jose Luis was part of the group that in 1977 pushed for the creation of the EGIN newspaper. Little did he know then the price he would have to pay for that; it became the reason for a 20-year prison sentence in a Spanish court, later to be reduced to eight. There were another 24,000 people who sponsored the newspaper but he was one of the first and that is a punishable offence in the Spain of today.

Last year a Spanish court declared that the closure of Egin and seizing of its assets was illegal. However, the conviction of Jose Luis of “collaborating with ETA” stands. What was that “collaboration”? Why the publishing of a newspaper with a policy of support for Basque self-determination, which is also the policy of ETA: “everything is ETA”!

Spanish media have declared Jose Luis to be a dangerous terrorist with no popular support but a hundred members of the Bergara Town Council (current and former) have declared their readiness to sign a petition in support of Jose Luis, including all the mayors of the town over the past 33 years. He was elected town mayor twice and his civic work had won the respect of the other town council members, irrespective of political party.

It is certain that Jose Luis never planned to spend his 75th birthday in jail or even to be charged and tried for founding a newspaper. On the other hand, he has seen the Spanish judiciary jail many people for “crimes” of political activism on Basque issues. When he completes his sentence of eight years, he will have served longer than the total served by all of the convicted GAL murder squad operatives who, under Spanish police and government ministerial control, abducted, tortured and murdered Basque activists as well as uninvolved civilians. That is the reality of Spanish democracy today, at least in respect of the wish of the Basques for self-determination.

The address to send birthday cards and greetings to is
Jose Luis Elkoro Unamuno,
Centro Penitencia Duenas,
La Moralaja, Carretera P.120
34210 Duenas
Valencia,
Spain