On December 11, 1986, the Central Court of Instruction, number 1 of the
Spanish National Court decided to prosecute the former directors of the newspapers
Avui and
Segre, Jaume Serrats and Ramon Perelló respectively, for an alleged crime of
glorifying terrorism. The case originated in events that took place the previous year, on December 17, when they had published in both papers the death notices of Mikel Zabalza and Quim Sànchez, a Catalan pro-independence political activist who died when working with explosives. As part of the same case, Juli Palou i Mínguez, Ismael Durà i Guimerà, Joaquim Roig i Ortiz, and Josep Ramon Freixes i Sentís, all of whom were members of pro-independence organizations and parties
PSAN,
MDT,
IPC and CSPC were accused of paying for the announcements. In the end, the court freed all the defendants without bail, but fined each of them 500,000
pesetas. The Mikel Zabalza Gogoan ('Remembering Mikel Zabalza') platform is a group of family members, friends and social activists of the young man who joined to demand justice for Mikel's death and to keep his memory alive. In 2016, the platform published the documentary
Galdutako objektuak ("Lost and found") about the events surrounding his murder. The title of the work comes from the response that his mother, Garbiñe Gárate, received when she went to the door of the barracks to ask where her son was: “If you're saying you lost your son, go look in the lost and found.” On January 10, 2019, the
Navarre Government held a conference titled “Weaving memory” to encourage the remembrance of victims of extreme-right and civil servant violence, like Mikel Zabalza, Germán Rodríguez,
Gladys del Estal and José Luis Cano. This event took place after several failed judicial attempts to place these victims on the same level as victims of ETA or
francoism. With respect to the various failed judicial attempts, last summer, the
Spanish Constitutional Court annulled almost the entire Navarre law of 2015 that recognized and sought to give reparations to victims of far-right violence. Similarly, earlier in the week, the High Court of Justice in Navarre paralyzed the calling of grants to universities that document cases of torture and abuse by these groups. September 2020 saw the premiere of the documentary
Non dago Mikel? ('Where is Mikel?'), directed by Amaia Merino and Miguel Ángel Llamas «Pitu», at the
San Sebastián International Film Festival. The notification was sent after the
Spanish Civil Guard found and denounced the mural, which included the text “Mikel Zabalza gogoan! Tortura 1960-2013: 3587 tortura salaketa Euskal Herrian Aztnugal” (In English 'Remembering Mikel Zabalza! Torture 1960-2013: 3587 complaints of torture in the Basque Country "Aztnugal"'). The Delegration based her demand for the mural's removal on the “instruction of the National Court prosecutor of July 7, 2009" which required “the removal of all symbols related to the ETA terrorist organization" since its "exhibition could be considered a crime of glorifying terrorism". At the same time, she warned that if the mural was not removed, she would take "necessary measures". Many voices spoke out with surprise and indignation at the accusation of ties with ETA. The next day, the victim's sister, Idoia Zabalza, the mayor of Agoitz, Unai Lako, the mayor of Orbaizeta, Sergio Mujika, the president of the Valley of Aezkoa, Félix Jamar, together with family members and members of the Mikel Zabalza Gogoan platform, held a
press conference in
Pamplona to say that Mikel Zabalza «is on the side of victims of violence” and criticized the Delegation for “trying to confuse issues more than clear them up”. The mayor of Agoitz said that the local government would not erase the mural and would appeal the second legal demand. He also announced that there would be an extraordinary plenary session on May 17 at 7pm to debate the possible celebration, on May 21 at 7:30pm, of a demonstration to reject the legal demand about the controversial mural.
Where is Mikel? (Non dago Mikel?) In 2020,
Amaia Merino and
Miguel Angel Llamas filmed the documentary
Where is Mikel? (Non dago Mikel?) which tells the story of Zabalza's disappearance as he was detained by Spain's Civil Guard who had confused him with a member of ETA. During the 20 days Zabalza's whereabouts were unknown, the lack of trust of the Basque people in the official version of the story led to massive protests. Despite the recordings of the Guardia Civil agents explaining their role in his torture and murder, no one was ever tried or punished for his death. The film was screened at the
San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2020, shortly before the 35th anniversary of his death. His family continues to demand justice for what happened. == References ==