Before the imminent celebration tomorrow of a talk at the Basque University by Etarra José Ramón López de Abetxuko, sentenced to several decades in prison for murder, New Generations wants to express his deep rejection for the fact that the public University authorizes, supports and cede its facilities so that the Etarra murderer offers a talk on the same date that Human Rights Day is commemorated.
For New Generations it is unacceptable that the University of the Basque Country is allowed to contribute to the bleaching of the image of former members and murderers of the terrorist band ETA. It must be remembered that the Etarra murdered the head of the Vitoria Municipal Police, Eugenio Lázaro, in 1980, in addition to belonging to the armed criminal organization until his arrest.
The University cannot be a speaker or a space where the enemies of freedom, peace and democracy have a place. We urge, for these reasons, the governing body of the University of the Basque Country to prevent the holding of the conference, and, in turn, we ask the academic and political operators to reflect on the advisability of promoting a reform of the University legislation so that acts of this nature cannot be celebrated because the law so establishes it, as an expression of the popular will, instead of being subject to the discretion of each University.
Finally, New Generations wants to express once again their loyalty to the victims of terrorism, whose lives were taken for thinking differently from their murderers. Our memory of the victims and their families is permanent, and our support for all of them is equally unwavering. It is the families of the victims, and not their murderers, who must be heard. Unfortunately, there is no one who can listen to the victims: individuals such as the one who will give a talk at a University took care of it.