ETA to end public receptions for released prisoners

The ETA prisoners’ collective (EPPK) announced on Monday its intention to put an end to public receptions for released ETA prisoners and is committed to limiting receptions to “discreet” events in a “private sphere”.

In a communiqué published by the newspapers Berria and Naiz.info, the prisoners of the terrorist organisation maintain that they “understand” that the victims of ETA may feel “hurt” by the public “ongi etorris”, which is why ETA has decided to end public receptions. From now on, they will only take place in a “private and discreet” environment.

Received in private

Consuelo Ordóñez, on ending the ‘ongi etorri’: “It is very good news, but they must fulfil it”.

“Using this communiqué, EPPK conveys to our relatives, friends and comrades, and Basque society, that it wishes that the receptions given to us when we go out into the street take place privately and discreetly, following the path undertaken in general in these last few months,” the communiqué states. “From now on, we only want to be received in a private space between relatives”, they insist.

The ETA prisoners affirm that “there are people who have honestly expressed that they feel pain with the public ‘ongi etorris'”. “They are people who have suffered as a result of the actions of our militancy in the past and we understand that they may feel hurt”, they add.

A right to embrace loved ones

The EPPK affirms that the prisoners have the right to “receive the embrace of their loved ones” after “long years and harsh prison conditions”, but recalls that the victims “have expressed those public acts of reception cause them pain”. “We say clearly that we desire to alleviate all suffering and open up new options, to heal wounds and strengthen coexistence among Basque citizens,” argues the group of ETA prisoners.

For this reason, after consulting the members of the collective imprisoned in Spain and France and “following on from other decisions taken and other previous steps”, the EPPK “considers it appropriate” that the ‘joy’ of being released from prison should be shared by those close to them who are waiting for them at “the prison door” or with those who receive them “discreetly”. Eta must end all public receptions out of a sign of respect.


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