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The Irish Republican Socialist Party has spoken out regarding the case of Iņigo Makazaga, an activist within the Basque student movement and a member of the Basque republican party. Makazaga, who served on Herri Batasuna's local committee in his Vitroria-Gasteiz community, was falsely charged in February 1996 with sabotage offenses as part of the Spanish governments ongoing attack on Basque activists. He was arrested and jailed, during which time he was subjected to physical abuse and torture. To escape further threat to his freedom and physical well being, Makazaga left the Basque lands and sought refuge in Britain under an assumed identity. He was arrested in Dover in April of 2001 on an extradition warrant from Spain, which claimed he was a member of the ETA.
Peadar Baile of the IRSP's International Department said: "Iņigo Makazaga has been incarcerated for ten months now, and yet no charges have been filed against him yet. The man is being held in isolation, which is inhuman treatment in itself. "If he is extradited to Spain, he is likely to face more torture and there is not the slightest hope of his gaining justice from the Spanish state, which has answered the legitimate demand of the Basque people for their national liberation over the years with nothing but more repression and violence. "The Spanish state responded to the ETA's unilateral cease-fire of more than a year with stepped up arrests, the banning of legal Basque political organisation, pursuit of Basque political refugees in France, and all manner of other repressive measures. To extradite a Basque political activist to Spain, given their recent record, would be itself a criminal act. "The IRSP well understands how imperialist states use extradition warrants as a means of silencing the voices of their political opponents in an attempt to control international access to the truth. We have had our own members subjected to these same tactics. Accordingly, we cannot do otherwise than join in demanding the release of Iņigo Makazaga." While endorsing the planned demonstration in support of Makazaga outside Belmarsh on Saturday, February 22nd, the IRSP spokesperson concluded: "The only thing Iņigo Makazaga is guilty of is loving his nation and his people and speaking out for their liberation. The IRSP call upon all socialists and republicans residing in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, or England who are able, to join the demonstration demanding the release of Iņigo. Moreover, the IRSP reiterate our solidarity with the Basque working people struggling for their own national liberation and the liberation of themselves as a class." STATEMENTS ENDS |