In San Sebastian, events will begin to remember Mikel Zabalza and to demand the truth about his case

Donostia-San Sebastián will be the starting point for initiatives to remember who was the driver of the city's bus company Mikel Zabalza , arrested by the Civil Guard in November 1985 and whose body appeared a few days later on the Bidasoa River, so in the coming days several associations will ask for clarification of what happened "exactly" to this young Navarro.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of these events, a bus will take a tour of different towns of Hego Euskal Herriato commemorate Zabalza, which for a year has had a plaque as a victim of police violence placed by the City Council of San Sebastián in front of the Civil Guard barracks in Intxaurrondo.

The tribute, which will take place under the slogan "Mikel Zabalza 40 urte gogoan", has been organized by popular initiatives in Altza, Aezkoa and Bortziriak, DBus workers, the Tortured Network and the Egiari Zor foundation, and will begin on 26 November, the day of the arrest of Zabalza 40 years ago in the Intxaurrondo district.

From there, and until 14 December, a bus that will host an exhibition on the young Navarro will stop in different localities of the Basque Country, such as Pamplona and Orbaizeta, the birthplace of Mikel Zabalza.

On December 14, DBus staff will drive the vehicle and will be in the bus cabins to visit the exhibition on December 12 and 13. They will return to the Boulevard of San Sebastian with a banner reading "There are no drivers here, where is it?", replicating the protest made by Zabalza's colleagues four decades ago, 32 years old.

At a press conference held this Tuesday, the organizers called on the public to participate in the initiative, "to bring Basque society closer to the event on 14 December and to give a massive reception to the bus".

In addition to remembering and paying tribute toZabalza, the second objective of the project is "to proclaim the need for the full truth of the case to be made public and to demand the public assumption of responsibility" since, according to the official version that has been maintained, the young man died drowned in the river while fleeing the Civil Guard handcuffed against those who claim to have been tortured in the Intxaurrondo barracks.

"The main institutions of Hego Euskal Herria recognize that Mikel Zabalza has been a victim of state violence. It is an important and necessary step, but there are still many questions to be answeredso that, after 40 years, the whole story will emerge: what exactly happened, where, who, how... "said the promoters of the tribute in a statement.

They believe that 'it is necessary to make commitments in order to answer all these questions and to be able to cross the path of truth, justice and reparation without hindrance , both in the case of Zabalza and in the case of the thousands of people who have suffered torture in the Basque Country '.

According to the bookStories of Lead published by the Navarre Government in 2013, "it will eventually be known that he drowned in the Intxaurrondo barracks while being tortured in a bathtub."