work for political prisoners in Spain.
About how many political prisoners are there in Spain today?
I can't say exactly, but approximately 10-12,000 go through the courts each year.
What sort of justice do those charged with political offences receive at the hands of the Spanish It comes under a special jurisdiction which they call 'ordinary', but is in fact very special. This deals with all questions of public order. Many people are charged only for their ideas, their opinions-for holding meetings, or distributing propaganda. Otherwise the most important cases usually go to the military courts.
People are brought before military courts if people are killed, where it's alleged terrorism has been used. This means people are supposed to have used guns. I should also mention the Carrero Blanco case, where me chaence agamist a list of people was drawn up by the police alleging their responsibility for the execution was so flimsy that the first judge said he would not take the responsibility of issuing an indictment against them and a 'special' judge had to be found to take the necessary responsibility. After the failure of the prosecution to obtain extradition from France of various people, the case was handed over to the military courts.
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London N.1. An interview with a Spanish lawyer who has been involved in defence Is the torture of suspects very Yes it is very common. The prisoners are also frequently submitted to drugs. Usually they are torturned in some way, and sometimes they are held incommunicado in police hands for more than a week. Afterwards, if they are handed over to military justice they can be held incommunicado from anybodylawyers, family, even from other prisoners-for nearly 100 days. One woman said to be involved in the Correo affair was held incommunicado for 110 days.
The case we've heard about most in this country is that of Eva Forest and Antonio Duran. Can you say something about their situation at present?
They were accused of being involved in the Correo affair along with 16 other people. Now there are only two of them, Eva Forest who is held in Yeserias prison and Antonio Duran who is in Carabanchel. Duran has been in the prison hospital several times and in the infirmary because of a mental disorder and also for an eye infection.
Eva Forest was in the hands of the police for nine days, and Duran was in their hands for two periods of five days separated by some time in prison. They are still awaiting trial. The prosecution's case is almost finished but no one knows exactly what is going to happen next.
Are there other important trials coming up that international opponents of the Franco regime should be concerned about?
There is also the forthcoming trial of Garmendia and Otaegui. They are under military juresdiction, in the 6th military region-it could be Burgos, we don't know but we hope so. Now they are collecting all the evidence presented by the lawyers ig preparation for the trial. morning of 30 July, along with another ETA1 militant. Later arrested, but one of them was killed by the police. There were It's important to know that Garmendia's lawyer has already asked rounded up. for the suspension sine die of this mentally deficient as a result of the his arrest and is unlikely to recover.
• There's recently been a lot in the British press about the arrest of a number of militants of the Basque liberation organisation ETA, including the leading militant known as "Wilson'. Can you say something He was arrested in Barcelona on the two people were also subsequently arrested in Madrid as part of this op eration. Three people were actually quite a lot of people involved in subsequent arrests since all those living with the original three were detained and anyone who gave them assistance (like taking them in) now have also taking them in) has also been They were also involved in an escape plan for the political prisoners in Segovia-this is one of the most important political prisons in Spain, where most of the people are Basque and militants from ETA.
In this case we can say that Wilson is considered by the police to be a leader of the politicalmilitary wing of ETA, and is suspected to have a great deal of knowledge about the whole organisation. He is being held incommunicado and it is also suspected that drugs have been administered to him.
What impact has the issue of political prisoners had on the Spanish and Basque working class, and how do you think they will respond to the forthcoming trials?
We can say that the level of consc iousness in the Basque country with regard to this issue is one of the FOR ABBAR highest in the Spanish State. Usual it has taken the form of a general strike, as last December. The Basq working class is waiting for these trials and everyone is talking about them. There is an amusing example of this from the festival of Pamplo when all the small boys were shouting that the life of "Topa'that is the alias of Garmendia-is going to be saved by the people all together.
What possibility is there that th trial of Otaegui and Garmendia wi turn into another Burgos, with all i political consequences?
I think it is quite possible because people are saying that this is going to be bigger than Burgos, but we have to wait and see because as ye we don't know exactly when the trial is going to be held.
1ETA-V Basque liberation movement supports the idea that terrorist actions can bring down the regime and solve problems of Basque nationalism