Iñaki Kijera Zelarain
Encyclopedia
Iñaki Kijera Zelarain was shot dead by a member of the Spanish National Police in a demonstration in favor of Basque political prisoners and refugees. He was 18 when killed, and lived with his parents at Antiguo district.
, the Spanish State was still in great turmoil. All repressed groups, ideologies and nationalities saw a chance to express their opinions and wishes and a new Constitution was formed in 1978. This Constitution let the possibility to do Statutes of Autonomy for different territories, like the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country
on 25 October 1979.
It was an year of great tumults. The attacks against Basque political refugees in Northern Basque Country
(under French administration), and French Police Forces' repression didn't make things better for Basque left nationalists. Hunger strikes and other protest were done to denounce the situation, and to claim the political status of Basque prisoners and refugees, namely in: Hendaia, Hazparne, Gasteiz, Bilbo
, Durango
, Donostia, and Iruñea.
That same year, France
refused to acknowledge Basque refugees as political arguing that Spain was already a democracy. To protest against such decision, refugees started a hunger strike in several Northern Basque Country places, under the slogan "Euskadin bizi nahi dugu", "We want to live in Euskadi". In Southern Basque Country, solidarity was shown in different ways: elects closed themselves up in administrative buildings, people did hunger strikes in solidarity, and appeared on several demonstrations. Some of those turned to be specially bloody.
, EE
, LKI, PTE
and EMK-OIC) closed themselves up in the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa in favor of Basque political refugee's rights. Next day, Committees in Favor of Amnesty ("Amnistiaren Aldeko Batzordeak") called for a demonstration with similar claims to be done on September 1, in the four Southern Basque Country capitals. Joaquin Argote, the Civil Governor of Gipuzkoa, banned Donostia's demonstration. Forces of Public Order took all the city on 1 September, in order to prevent any attempt of demonstration.
However, some 2000 people showed up and along with those closed up in the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and in the City Council of Donostia (who were tied up to each other as a sign of protest), started a demonstration from the Boulevard. The Spanish National Police charged with great violence.
There were more injuries in that same demonstration: the La Vanguardia
newspaper named Jon Artola Lopez, Javier Atorrasagasti and two elects of the town of Oiartzun
, along with other four people sent to the hospital.
) decreed official mourning day.
In Monday, a general strike in Southern Basque Country paralyced Gipuzkoa: even gas stations where shut down, and radios broadcast classical music all through the day. In Donostia, just a few food stores where open, and only till midday. There were no taxis nor buses on the streets. Forces of Public Order went from one side of the city to another, and the downtown's as well as neighborhood's entrances where blocked by barricades.
Iñaki Kijera was buried in Polloe cemetery, and funeral rituals were made in Antigua district's "San Sebastian Martir" church. 10.000 people demonstrated; they headed to Donostia's downtown but once again, the police charged and scattered the demonstrators with great violence, and disturbances took place all through the city. As a result, there were more injured and arrested demonstrators.
The general strike continued on Bizkaia, Nafarroa and Araba
.
Political context
Four years after the death of the Spanish dictator Francisco FrancoFrancisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
, the Spanish State was still in great turmoil. All repressed groups, ideologies and nationalities saw a chance to express their opinions and wishes and a new Constitution was formed in 1978. This Constitution let the possibility to do Statutes of Autonomy for different territories, like the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country
Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country
The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' which includes the historical territories of Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It forms the region into one of the autonomous communities envisioned in...
on 25 October 1979.
It was an year of great tumults. The attacks against Basque political refugees in Northern Basque Country
Northern Basque Country
The French Basque Country or Northern Basque Country situated within the western part of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques constitutes the north-eastern part of the Basque Country....
(under French administration), and French Police Forces' repression didn't make things better for Basque left nationalists. Hunger strikes and other protest were done to denounce the situation, and to claim the political status of Basque prisoners and refugees, namely in: Hendaia, Hazparne, Gasteiz, Bilbo
Bilbo
Bilbo can refer to:*Bilbo Baggins, protagonist of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.*Bilbo, the Basque name for Bilbao, the major city in the Basque Country of northern Spain...
, Durango
Durango
Durango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...
, Donostia, and Iruñea.
That same year, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
refused to acknowledge Basque refugees as political arguing that Spain was already a democracy. To protest against such decision, refugees started a hunger strike in several Northern Basque Country places, under the slogan "Euskadin bizi nahi dugu", "We want to live in Euskadi". In Southern Basque Country, solidarity was shown in different ways: elects closed themselves up in administrative buildings, people did hunger strikes in solidarity, and appeared on several demonstrations. Some of those turned to be specially bloody.
1 September 1979 demonstration in Donostia
On 31 August 1979, more than forty elects of different political parties (HBHB
HB may refer to:* HB , a 1920s automobile* HB , a German brand of cigarettes* Hofbräuhaus, a brewery in Munich* HB Ice Cream, an Irish brand* HB , a Finnish symphonic metal musical group...
, EE
EE
EE may refer to:Linguistics* "ee" is an English digraph that corresponds to a sound of Places* Ee, Dongeradeel, a town in Friesland, NetherlandsIn business* Aero Airlines * Estonia...
, LKI, PTE
PTE
PTE may refer to:*CVH-PTE Engine, an engine produced by the Ford Motor Company*Partido de los Trabajadores de Ecuador, the Workers' Party of Ecuador*Partido del Trabajo de España, the Party of Labour of Spain...
and EMK-OIC) closed themselves up in the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa in favor of Basque political refugee's rights. Next day, Committees in Favor of Amnesty ("Amnistiaren Aldeko Batzordeak") called for a demonstration with similar claims to be done on September 1, in the four Southern Basque Country capitals. Joaquin Argote, the Civil Governor of Gipuzkoa, banned Donostia's demonstration. Forces of Public Order took all the city on 1 September, in order to prevent any attempt of demonstration.
However, some 2000 people showed up and along with those closed up in the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and in the City Council of Donostia (who were tied up to each other as a sign of protest), started a demonstration from the Boulevard. The Spanish National Police charged with great violence.
Murder of Iñaki Kijera
Iñaki Kijera took part on that same demonstration altogether with his friends. When the Spanish National Police skattered the demonstrators, he sheltered himself in the Old Town. When the police took the street he and a girl were on, they tried to reach the gardens of Alderdi Eder and he was shot by an officer from 10 meters of distance. The bullet hit him in the right side and emerged from his back; he fell onto the floor bleeding from his chest. He stayed for 15 minutes lying on the pavement, at the rear of the City Council. Those who tried to approach him where stopped by the police who hit and shot rubber balls to them. When a doctor and a nurse of the Red Cross tried to aid Iñaki, the coppers hit the professionals with nightsticks even after them identifying themselves as Red Cross members. After some fighting, they were able to take care of the dying Kijera. Finally, friends got to put Iñaki in a private car after dodging shot rubber balls. The young man was transferred to an ambulance and sent to an hospital, where he died.There were more injuries in that same demonstration: the La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia is Catalonia's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain. It has its headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia's largest city....
newspaper named Jon Artola Lopez, Javier Atorrasagasti and two elects of the town of Oiartzun
Oiartzun
Oiartzun is a town of the Basque Country located in the province of Gipuzkoa lying at the foot of the massif Aiako Harria.The name traces back to the Oiasso or Oiarso of the Roman period, an important town dedicated to mining and marine activities...
, along with other four people sent to the hospital.
Afterwards
Next day was trawler race day in Donostia, but it got canceled, and mayor Jose Maria Alkain (PNVBasque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
) decreed official mourning day.
In Monday, a general strike in Southern Basque Country paralyced Gipuzkoa: even gas stations where shut down, and radios broadcast classical music all through the day. In Donostia, just a few food stores where open, and only till midday. There were no taxis nor buses on the streets. Forces of Public Order went from one side of the city to another, and the downtown's as well as neighborhood's entrances where blocked by barricades.
Iñaki Kijera was buried in Polloe cemetery, and funeral rituals were made in Antigua district's "San Sebastian Martir" church. 10.000 people demonstrated; they headed to Donostia's downtown but once again, the police charged and scattered the demonstrators with great violence, and disturbances took place all through the city. As a result, there were more injured and arrested demonstrators.
The general strike continued on Bizkaia, Nafarroa and Araba
Araba
Araba may refer to one of the following places:*Álava, a province in northern Spain *Arabah, a section of the Great Rift Valley*Arraba, an Arab-Israeli town in Israel*Arrabah, a Palestinian village in the West Bank...
.
See also
- Bloody Sunday (1972)Bloody Sunday (1972)Bloody Sunday —sometimes called the Bogside Massacre—was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in which twenty-six unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army...
- Euskal Herria
- Grupos Antiterroristas de LiberaciónGrupos Antiterroristas de LiberaciónGrupos Antiterroristas de Liberación were death squads established illegally by officials of the Spanish government to fight ETA, the principal Basque separatist militant group. They were active from 1983 until 1987, under Spanish Socialist Workers Party -led governments...
- Spanish transition to democracySpanish transition to democracyThe Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
- Statute of Autonomy of the Basque CountryStatute of Autonomy of the Basque CountryThe Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' which includes the historical territories of Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It forms the region into one of the autonomous communities envisioned in...