WRITTEN QUESTION E-1234/03 by Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Closure of Euskaldunon Egunkaria.
Date: 2003-04-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Basque Country, Spain, freedom of the press, linguistic group, newspaper, right to information, right to justice, rights of the defence, terrorism

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/99

of commercial drivers engaged in export trade from becoming victims of organised crime (1). Pursuant to
the third paragraph of that joint declaration national or international surveys should be conducted in order
to map the incidents of crime directed at commercial drivers engaged in export trade and investigate the
nature and scale of the problem and the background to it in their respective countries. A joint declaration
has, however, no binding force upon the Member States

(1) OJ C 24, 31.1.2003.

(2004/C 33 E/098)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1234/03

by Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(2 April 2003)

Subject: Closure of Euskaldunon Egunkaria

On Thursday 20 February this year the Basque newspaper Euskaldunon Egunkaria was closed down as a
precautionary measure by High Court Judge Juan del Olmo. In an unprecedented act since democracy
came to Spain, this judge, the Public Prosecutor and the Interior Minister himself drew up a joint press
statement supporting the closure of this periodical (cid:1) the only entirely Basque-language newspaper (cid:1)
because of alleged links to the ETA terrorist movement, based on some documents that were seized by the
national police in the 1990s. More than a month has passed since these events, and five of the ten people
who were arrested by judicial decree are still in detention, although no decisive and irrefutable evidence
has been provided of their links with the terrorist movement. Moreover, some of them have accused the
Spanish police authorities of torture, a detail which certainly does not make the path of peace in the
troubled Basque Country any easier. This action against one of the communications media has greatly
damaged the Basque language and culture and the citizens of this region, who are perplexed to observe
once again a kind of action more typical of the Franco era which still haunts people’s memories. The
Spanish Government should not overlook or underestimate the demonstrations of support and solidarity
that those who worked for this newspaper have received from various political groups, all kinds of
associations, trade unions, religious communities and many others in the whole Basque Country, Catalonia
and the rest of Europe.

The closure of Euskaldunon Egunkaria is of enormous significance and clearly affects a constitutional right,
the right of citizens to information, enshrined in Article 20 of the Spanish Constitution and Article 11 of
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Does the Commission consider that the Spanish authorities have violated inalienable principles of the
acquis communautaire?

Does the Commission consider that there has been a clear and repeated infringement of the presumption
of innocence?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(5 May 2003)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to the answers to Written Questions E-0672/03 by
Mr Borghezio and E-0641/03 by Mr Ebner (1).

(1) OJ C 280 E, 21.11.2003, p. 75.