60,000 rally in Basque town Altsasu to demand the freedom of the seven arrested youths

Under the slogan “this is not justice”, 60,000 demonstrators turned to the streets this Sunday March 24th to demonstrate in favour of the eight youths sentenced in the Altsasu trial two weeks ago. Seven of the eight have already spent 862 days in prison, for charges related to an alleged bar brawl with two off-duty Guardia Civil officers in 2016.

“We want justice, free the detainees” was 60,000 people's demand in Altsasu. The deafening silence was only broken by the sound of applause. The seven young people who were arrested as a result of the fight on the 15th of October have spent more than two weeks in Soto de la Real and Alcalá de Henares prisons, near Madrid, 400 kilometres from their homes in the Sakana valley. They are accused of crimes which could be punished with between ten and fifteen years in prison. We are going to try to put this in context.


As the result of a fight between two Spanish Civil Guards and their couples – dressed in civilian clothes – and a group of people from Altsasu which took place at 05:00 AM of 15th October, during the town festivities, one of the policemen ended up with an injured ankle and seven young people were arrested: Iñaki Abad, Oihan Arranz, Jon Ander Cob, Julen Goikoetxea, Jokin Unamuno, Aratz Urruzola and Adur Ramirez. They are each in danger of facing between ten and fifteen years in prison.

What happened?

On the 15th of October, most of the major Spanish media reported that the Civil Guards and their couples had been "attacked", "ambushed" or "lynched" by 50 people. The people from Altsasu, at the press conference they gave on the following day, denied that, saying that "the policemen had provoked the fight in a bar". One of the Civil Guards' couples declared to the Navarrese police that evening that there had been six "attackers". That same evening, two people were arrested in Altsasu and the Navarrese police charged against the people who had gathered outside the Spanish Civil Guard barracks to demand their freedom.