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Un dia vaig sentir a parlar l’exdirector d’Egunkaria, en Martxelo Otamendi, i vaig pensar que era una de les persones que contribuïa a donar prestigi al País Basc. És una home d’una argumentació molt sòlida. És un periodista senzillament solvent. I, com a persona, desprèn categoria. És per això que m’alegro profundament que hagi estat absolt de l’acusació de pertinença a ETA. La sentència ha deixat clar que era totalment improcedent tancar un diari per una sospita no provada. La llibertat de premsa s’ha de preservar amb molta cura, moltíssima, i no pas amb el menyspreu del cas Egunkaria.
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Ara, però, cal que l’Estat compensi Egunkaria: pels danys econòmics d’haver tancat una empresa durant set anys sense cap mena de motiu, per haver deixat a l’atur tots els treballadors del rotatiu, i pel dany a la imatge dels acusats. Previsiblement, l’Estat espanyol oposarà molta resistència a pagar compensacions. Entre altres coses perquè, com m’explicava en Martxelo un dia a Estrasburg, on vam promoure un manifest de suport d’eurodiputats a Egunkaria, l’Estat sap que els bascos, amb un gra d’arròs, fan una paella.
Us adjunto la nota de premsa que hem enviat als mitjans europeus, juntament amb l’eurodiputat cors François Alfonsi (és en anglès):
Egunkaria – MEPs welcome victory for press freedom
EFA MEPs François Alfonsi (PNC – Corsica) and Oriol Junqueras (ERC – Catalunya) have welcomed the decision to acquit the five defendants involved in the case of the Basque newspaper Egunkaria.
The newspaper was shut down seven years ago following unfounded allegations of an illegal association with ETA. Egunkaria was established in 1990 and was the only daily newspaper produced in the Basque language.
EFA MEPs had previously strongly criticised the Spanish state authorities for their attack on the freedom of the press in closing Egunkaria. In February they hosted a press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg with Martxelo Otamendi, the paper’s former editor.
At that time they asserted that maintaining the ban on Egunkaria was in contradiction of the guarantees on freedom of expression of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights as now enshrined in the Treaty of Lisbon.
Following this acquittal they are calling for the people concerned to be compensated for their suffering over the past number of years.
Corsican MEP François Alfonsi said:
“This has been a blow for the arbitrary justice meted out by the Spanish state in its repression of the Basque people. The European Parliament made clear how the Spanish state was failing to behave in line with the democratic standards of the European Union. The European Free Alliance Group is very pleased to have been able to highlight this issue in the European Parliament and welcome the acquittal of those concerned.”
Catalan MEP Oriol Junqueras said:
“It’s been shown that Egunkaria had nothing to do with ETA. Therefore, it now follows that for justice to be done, financial compensation should be awarded to this publication which was forced to close down and lay off all its employees. The same goes for the five people affected by the court case. For more than seven years they’ve been publically accused of links with ETA, something that’s never been proven. Sadly, compensating for the curtailment of press freedom over these past seven years will be a little more difficult.”
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