STATEMENT IN FAVOUR OF ACQUITTING THE NEWSPAPER EUSKALDUNON EGUNKARIA AND ITS FORMER EXECUTIVES AND STAFF
It is a month since the Treaty of Lisbon, which amends the current EU and EC treaties and provides the Union with the legal framework to meet future challenges and to respond to citizens’ demands, came into force. This Treaty includes the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 22 of which states:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.”
The freedom and pluralism of the media shall be respected.
On 13 December 2004, the Government of Spain presented a Memorandum to the European Commission requesting recognition in the European Union of all the official languages of Spain, including Euskera (which is, along with Spanish, the co-official language in the Basque Country) and providing a copy of the Constitutional Treaty in Euskera, while at the same time making a proposal for the official recognition in the European Union of the languages other than Spanish.
In the European context, the scrupulous respect for these principles should form part of the Community’s heritage, and should lead to the restoration of any right infringed in the area of freedom of expression and information. That is why, through this statement, we want to express our concern to all the European institutions, starting with the European Parliament, about the closing down of the newspaper Euskaldunon Egunkaria.
On 20 February 2010 seven years will have passed since the closing down of the Basque-language newspaper Euskaldunon Egunkaria, the only daily publication published in this official language in the Basque Country. It is worth remembering that the Basque language is recognised as the language of the Basques in Article 6 of the law regulating the powers and institutions of the Basques, the Statute of Autonomy of Gernika. Additionally, Article 22 of the Basic Law on the Normalisation of the Use of the Basque Language, “recognises that all citizens have the right to be informed by the media both in Euskera and in Spanish”.
It must be pointed out that Euskaldunon Egunkaria was a newspaper that also formed part of the European network MIDAS (European Organization of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages), along with 28 other newspapers published in various regional languages.
The closing down of the newspaper created a great deal of commotion, social concern and reaction, and even the Petition Commission of the European Parliament resolved to file a petition regarding it. Besides, on 22 February 2005, 22 members of the European Parliament signed an statement in favour of suspending the closure of the newspaper.
Now, the trial in the case involving the closing down of Egunkaria has started, and we are requesting a fair verdict in the case: the acquittal of the five leading members being tried and the suspension of the financial court case of Egunkaria, which is pending, as well as compensation for all the damage caused. This request is based on the Public Prosecutor’s strong arguments.
Miguel Ángel Carballo, the Public Prosecutor of the Spanish National Criminal Court, called for the case to be dropped on 14 December 2006, in view of the lack of consistency of the accusations brought, and has maintained the same position ever since. These are some of the conclusions put forward by the Public Prosecutor in that request:
“(…) Therefore, it would be inappropriate to open the trial, bearing in mind that it has not been proven that the newspaper Egunkaria had served to fund the terrorist group ETA or to launder capital coming from it; that there is no evidence that the newspaper Egunkaria, or the defendants, had served the aims of the terrorist group ETA; that there is no evidence that the defendants had legitimised terrorist actions or had exonerated or minimized the undemocratic significance and of the abuse of fundamental rights entailed in the action of the said group, which could have been done in a way that was even implicit but with conclusive acts; that there is no evidence that the defendants have provided any specific nor generic assistance aimed at specifically supporting collaboration with terrorism.”
The trial is based only on the Private Prosecution brought by two organisations – the Association of Victims of Terrorism and the organisation Dignity and Justice– which have not been affected by any crime allegedly committed by Egunkaria, but which are only representatives of their own interests.
We take into special consideration the requests filed in the past by representatives of the Basque, Spanish and European Parliaments in favour of suspending the closing down of the newspaper and dropping the case:
– On 22 February 2005, 22 members of the European Parliament called for the suspension of the closing down.
– On 19 October 2005, 61 Members of the Lower and Upper chambers of the Spanish Parliament called for the case to be dropped.
– On 4 November 2005, the majority in the Basque Parliament called for the case to be dropped.
Without detriment to the judicial steps that must be taken in this or in any other case, it is clearly remarkable and paradoxical that the newspaper remains closed, even today, as a “precautionary measure”. It is easy to see the harm caused, in a general way, to the fundamental public freedoms of expression and communication, that is, to Basque society as a whole and, with special intensity, to speakers of Euskera and, among them, the readers and subscribers of this newspaper. Also negatively affected are the newspaper’s employees and collaborators, and the rights of its shareholders, without forgetting the economic damage has been caused to the suppliers and creditors of the newspaper and associated companies, further evidence that the closure affects fundamental rights.
Special mention should be made of the harm caused to the persons on trial and to the persons waiting for a trial, important personalities in the world of Basque culture, who were detained on the accusation of belonging to ETA, held incommunicado, presumably tortured and remanded in custody for as long as a year and a half, and who have had to suffer a long judicial process spanning seven years. All of them have received support and solidarity from the widest possible spectrum of political, social and institutional figures in the Basque Country and abroad.
The closing down of the newspaper was covered by some of the most relevant media in Europe and worldwide, and monitored by international organisations, such as, the International Press Association, the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Article 19, International PEN. They expressed their concern about this case and requested that it should be dropped if there was not sufficient proof against Egunkaria.
We have to emphasize the report written by Theo van Boven, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, in March 2004, who after visiting Spain to monitor the situation on human rights in this country, concluded that the torture claims made by the defendants of the Egunkaria case were consistent and requested the Spanish Government to take measures to prevent torture.
In these times in which Europe is attempting to open up new spaces for justice, prosperity, freedom and security, and in which the very text of the Treaty of Lisbon emphasises the rights of citizens in a clear way, and bearing in mind the strong arguments of the Public Prosecutor, we believe it is necessary to call for the reconsideration of this closure and for the acquittal of all the defendants.
European Parliament
Strasbourg, 10 February 2010