IRSP: End Persecution of Basque International Activists Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source - IRSP 26 May 1999 IRSP Denounce Criminalisation Attempt Against Basque International Relations Department The International Department of the Irish Republican Socialist Party has issued a strong statement of solidarity with its counterpart in the Basque National Liberation Movement. The statements states: "It has come to the attention of the Irish Republican Socialist Party that in March of this year, the Spanish Civil Guard arrested Mikel Egibar, a former Representative of Herri Batasuna in Paris and a leading figure in the area of international solidarity for the Basque organisation. His arrest is but a part of a repressive offensive against Herri Batasuna's International Department and the Basque liberation movement as a whole. "This offensive is employing the well-worn criminalising formula, very familiar to Irish republicans and socialists, to connect Basque international activists with the ETA. In March, Egibar was arrested by the Civil Guard, held incommunicado, and tortured. During this period of custody it was necessary for Egibar to be taken to the hospital where an argument erupted between the treating doctor and the civil guards, the agents insisting that the doctor discharge Egibar immediatedly, so they could resume their torture. Details of the case remain sub judice even now, two months after the arrest. "The Civil Guard claim to have obtained a statement from Egibar in which he confirmed he was an ETA courier and implicating a significant number of others involved in international Basque activist groups as well. The Spanish government has been obsessed by the international relations work done by Herri Batasuna and other other Basque organisations, trade unions, and so forth. "The IRSP denounce this travesty of justice and violation of Egibar's human and civil rights. This is only part of a vicious offensive by the Spanish government on Basque militants that has included arrest of the entire National Executive of Herri Batasuna, the forced closure of both the Egin newspaper and radio, arrests of members of the Jarrai Youth Organisation, threats to declare the entire youth group illegal, and pressing the French authorities into a police raid in Paris. "This has been the response of the Spanish government to a unilateral cease-fire by the ETA and requests for political negotiations. Once again we are shown the reality that lies behind the bourgeoisie's calls for peace. The Spanish government as part of the imperialist NATO alliance bombs innocent Yugoslav civilians claiming defense of Kosova's autonomy, while stepping up repression against the just national liberation efforts of the Basque people, just as the British government joins in the savage assault on Yugoslavia while condoning continued RUC abuses, standing idlly by while Loyalist death squad activity surges, and thugs assault those in the republican community of the six counties opposed to their stymied agreement." The statement goes on to call for all charges against Egibar to be dropped and for an end to the repressive campaign against Basque activists. It concludes, "Those engaged in movements for national liberation and justice for working class people must stand together in solidarity, or we will all be crushed by the international alliance of capitalist nations." ENDS International Secretariat Irish Republican Socialist Party/North American Coordinator Irish Republican Socialist Committees 2057 15th Street, Suite B San Francisco, CA 94114 USA Phone/fax: 415-861-1355 irsp@netwiz.net http://irsm.org/irsm.html ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-05.26.99-22:59:37-30678