Justice Arana's platform has denounced that the "ertzaina" who injured the young man who lost a testicle in Bilbao has been "covered up"

The Justizia Aranarentzat platform today denounced the "violence" of the Ertzaintza in the eviction operation of the gaztetxe Etxarri on 3 April, while calling for "justice and visibility" in the case because "the aggression suffered was not due to misfortune or a one-off error, but to a deliberate attack".

The platform has been presented at a hearing in front of the Bilbao Palace of Justice, attended by the injured young man himself, Iker Arana, a neighbour of Irala, who, in the context of the eviction operation of the gaztetxe Etxarri in the Rekalde district of Bilbao, lost a belly hit by a foam ball launched by the Ertzaintza.

Arana, accompanied by a member of the platform, has read a statement in Basque and Spanish in which the platform for Justice Arana criticizes the"brutality" of the Ertzaintza  and denounces that the agents acted "with complete impunity, concealing evidence and covering up the person responsible".

The injured young man has taken the floor to give an account ofthe incident and recalled that the gunshot was "deliberately directed" by the Ertzaina towards the crotch, "20 or 30 people, close friends and acquaintances of the neighbourhood, without causing any altercation or disturbance, united peacefully."

Arana has assured them that , "suddenly and without knowing why,"the Ertzaintza fired at them, and when some of the comrades reproached theofficers for their aggressive attitude, they shot them again, "hittingtheir testicles with that second shot. "

After pointing out that they have obstructed theinvestigation , he has stressed that the ball was "direct and intentional, as I am verifying by various evidence." None of these evidence has been obtained from the 35 cameras carried by the agents in the area. He has stressed that "no evidence could be extracted" from those camerasbecause"they were off, the images were blurred or pointed elsewhere."

According to the platform, there are "sufficient indications" to ensure that "the foam ball that struck Iker was fired directly in a context where there was no disturbance or danger."

"Slowness and opacity" in the identification of the ertzaina

On the other hand, the group has criticized the "slowness and opacity" of the process of identifying the responsible ertzaina, despite the fact that the neighbours of the neighbourhood obtained various audio-visual evidence, which was identified last week, three months after the incident.

In addition, the platform has stressed that "friends and neighbors" had to collect "essential" images for the investigation without the help of the authorities. Despite the use of body cameras by the Ertzaintza, the platform has accused themof "lack of transparency" .

In the case of Iker, they point out that "although there are many Ertzainas dressed in these cameras, no conclusive evidence has been obtained", which, in the platform's view, demonstrates the existence of a "cover-up attitude" and that the Ertzaintza "intentionally obstructs the investigation of the facts".

Instead of taking responsibility, they explain, the Ertzainas "have merely protected each other by building a wall of silence that prevents the truth from being achieved and hinders justice. "" Another example of the brutality and impunityused by the Ertzaintza is , within a broader model of police repression, "they add.

After announcing that the platform "will do everything in its power to ensure that the case is not buried in silence", it has demanded that the facts be "fully" clarified and that "all those responsible be brought to justice".

Emergency measures and dismantling of the mobile brigade

The platform, as an urgent measure to prevent the recurrence of similar cases in the future, has called for the prohibition of the use of shotguns and foam bullets ; the "mandatory" identificationof Ertzainas and their leaders in any intervention to ensure transparency and accountability.

Finally, they have called for the dismantling of the Mobile Brigade, as the platform considers that this police unit "specializes in the suppression of protests and poses a permanent risk to those who exercise their right to social mobilization and peaceful protest".