- Iñaki de Juana
- Sentenced
- Hunger Strike
- Harassment
- No Evidence
- Prison History

Iñaki de Juana (Legazpi, 1955)

From a young age, Iñaki became involved in politics against the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, and in favour of Basque independence and socialism.

In 1971, when Iñaki was 15 years old, he was first arrested for protesting during the Burgos Trial, in which 16 alleged members of ETA were sentenced to death for anti-fascist and pro-Basque independence activities.

Following massive protests within the Spanish state and internationally, which was part of politicising a whole generation of people against Franco and fascism, the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.

Franco died in 1975 but the struggle of the Basque people for their democratic rights and national self-determination continued as the new Spanish “democracy” that emerged continued to deny these rights.

Sentenced

In January 1987, Iñaki was arrested as an ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna – Basque Homeland and Freedom) member. He was sentenced under a 1973 Francoist law to the maximum amount of time a person can spend in jail.

Iñaki served almost 19 years in prison – the maximum he could serve under the law – including spending more than 17 years in solitary confinement.

As the moment of his release approached in 2004, the then Spanish Interior Minister, López Aguilar, said publicly that he wanted the judges to “construct new charges” against Iñaki to “keep him in jail”.

While in prison Iñaki was a columnist for the pro-independence Basque newspaper Gara. In its effort to construct these new charges, the Audiencia Nacional (National Court – the political Diplock-style court descended from Franco’s Public Order Tribunal) picked the last two articles he had written for the newspaper and claimed that they “glorified terrorism” and made “threats” against the prison directors.

Hunger Strike

On the basis of these new charges, the prosecutor asked for Iñaki a sentence of 96 years in jail.

Iñaki began a hunger strike in protest. This hunger strike finished after 63 days when an agreement was reached with the Spanish government. At trial, the Spanish government broke this deal and Iñaki was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison.

The Association of European Democratic Lawyers condemned the sentence as “an exceptional resolution of extraordinary harshness”.

He began a second hunger strike, which lasted for 115 days. During the protest, an emaciated Iñaki was force-fed by the authorities while shackled to his hospital bed.

His protest ended with the Supreme Court reducing his sentence to three years on appeal, of which the last year would be spent in hospital and at home. After three months in hospital, the Spanish government again broke the agreement and Iñaki was put back in jail for the remainder of his sentence.

He completed his sentence on August 2, 2008, having spent a total of 21 years and seven months in jail, with 17 of these years being spent in isolation.

Harassment

As his new release date neared, the Spanish government and National Court judges privately accepted that there was no basis to construct new charges against Iñaki that could keep him in jail – but pressure was mounting from right-wing politicians and the media to do just that. There has been a virulent and sustained hate campaign against Iñaki by the Spanish media for several years.

Days before being released, the new Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba held a meeting with the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT) during which he promised them that he would do “everything he could” to put Iñaki in jail again.

After this meeting, knowing that his home had been attacked and having received many threats, Iñaki decided that as soon as he was released he would move to Ireland. Upon his release on August 2, 2008, he flew immediately to Dublin without stopping in the Basque Country.

Despite Iñaki’s absence, a rally celebrating his release was held in Donostia in the Basque Country. The organisers read a letter thanking everybody for attending and a media source reported that a speaker at the rally used the popular Basque sporting expression “Aurrera bolie”, which translates as “Forward with the ball”.

No evidence

The Spanish police prepared a report claiming that Iñaki was the author of the statement and that it constitued a call for the continuation of armed struggle. Iñaki says he did not write such a letter and the Spanish police admit they cannot produce it. Three different Spanish police bodies have said there is no such letter.

The Spanish National Court started proceedings against Iñaki and requested his return to Madrid to submit to questioning about the comment. Iñaki responded by offering to be questioned in Belfast by written statement or by a visiting Spanish magistrate but the Spanish court demanded his return to Madrid. The Spanish judge then launched a European Arrest Warrant against Iñaki, demanding his extradition for questioning.

Ruling against the informed opinion of the academics of the Basque Language Academy and following a Spanish police report the Belfast judge agreed that the phrase “Aurrera bolie” may constitute “glorifying terrorism” and said that this offence had a legal equivalent under British anti-terror legislation.

But even the Spanish government-linked daily El Pais has been forced to point out in an editorial that there is no basis to these new charges.

At this stage, to make the case even more Kafkaesque, the European Arrest Warrant is still just to question Iñaki about the phrase and he has not been charged with a crime.

It is very clear that behind the warrant for “questioning” issued by the National Court is the agenda of putting Iñaki back in prison, despite the fact that he has not committed any offence.

Iñaki and his wife want to start a new life in Belfast. He has the right to live freely from persecution and harassment by the Spanish government, which has been forced to resort to this ridiculous charge because it had no legal option but to free him after he served his prison sentence.

Prison History

Click here to download Iñaki’s personal account of his time in prison.