Republican News · Thursday 14 February 2002

Basque youth in hunger strike

Seventeen members of the Basque pro-independent youth organisation Segi are on hunger strike in Iruñea to protest against the banning of their organisation and the continuing repression of Basque nationalists.

Zigor Ruiz, spokesperson for Segi, condemned the previous ban against Basque youth organisation Haika and the imprisonment of its members as proof of the "general offensive carried out by the Spanish and French establishments against Basque youth". The European Union, under pressure by the Spanish government, has now included Segi in the list of European terrorist organisations, a move quickly followed by the banning of the organisation in Spain. The ban on Segi comes at a time when there are at least 300 Basque youths facing trial in Spanish courts.