Earlier this month 8 Basque activists were condemned by the Spanish High Court as members of a Terrorist organisation to 6 years and a half of imprisonment.

Their crime? They were members of a political organisation, SEGI.

15 Basque activists were arrested and held incommunicado, heavily tortured, some of them admited taking part in riots and being members of SEGI. I think that enough days incommunicado and they could have admited having shoot JFK.

The High Court considered proved that 8 of those 15 were members of the youth organisation SEGI and therefore has condemned them as ETA members and ordered police to arrest them.

However, most Basque citizens know that SEGI is not ETA, most also know that Political Trials should never have taken place in our Country, but that in the current situation those trials make less sense than ever.

Those citizens are not ready to stand by while 8 young men and women are brought to prison for their political commitment. Those citizens have decided to set up a Free area, an Askegunea, in Donostia’s boulevard and for several days now have phisically guarded the activists, avoiding their arrest.

Basque police forcibly arrested Ekaitz Ibero, a ninth youth who had been charged with rioting, last Monday proceding with extreme violence in the Askegunea.

Today over 40 police vans seem to have been transfered to Donostia (over 320 Police Officers) to arrest the remaining 8 activists.

Why so many? Because by 15.00 hours nearly a thousand citizens were standing around the activists. Having decided to buil a human wall, the people’s wall, herri-harresia, to hinder and avoid the arrests.

* Ana Mezo describes herself as "a Basque citizen who lives in the small village of Larrabetzu. I was a member of Larrabetzu Town Council between 1987 and 1991 and I have been also one of the elected members of Bizkaia Provincial Government since 2007, but through the application of the Political Parties Law, my candidature was outlawed and the thousands of votes given by electors were deemed void".