Freedom demanded for long-term Basque Political prisoner

FREE FER! 25 YEARS IN PRISON

Numerous friends, colleagues and relatives of Fernando García Jodrá gathered on Monday (as part of Bilbao’s main festival) on the San Antón Bridge in the Old Town of the Basque city. They all called for the release of a man who has already spent 25 years in prison, 19 of which he has spent in a prison wing in total isolation.

Fer (Fernando Garcia Jodra, a Basque political prisoner) was arrested on 24 August 2001, 25 years ago. After being tortured for 5 days, he was imprisoned on the 28th in relation with ETA membership.

Fer is from Bilbao, from the Santutxu neighbourhood, and turned 55 on 10 January. From a young age, he became involved in activism, in the struggle for national liberation and in various class struggles.

He was forced to go underground at the age of 23 while studying journalism and advertising at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), at the same time he was a member of the ‘Bizi Nai’ dance group.

He spent 7 years in exile, during which his only brother, Jorge, died of cancer. He dedicated the book he wrote in prison, ‘La furia del cobarde’ (‘The Fury of the Coward’), to him.

Fer served three-quarters of his sentence on 28 February 2024.

People joining the rally in Bilbao Monday, could hear the personal words of Fernando García Jodrá who managed to communicate by telephone from Zaballa prison:

“Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for your solidarity and your help. Twenty-five years in prison. Clearly the song fell short. And I’ll start at the end.

It’s been a very hard road. But at least I’m clear one thing: that the road I took was mine. And yes, it’s still so. From here too. I own my decisions. And my decisions make sense of my life. I say it with pride: I don’t have to hide, in a world full of euphemisms.

In these twenty-five years I have known the worst thing that human beings can offer. And sometimes I realize that I use the inner tour to protect myself from the eyes of others. Sometimes I’m not quite sure what these years have become. And that’s why I repeat over and over again: that of these twenty-five years, I’ve spent nineteen in isolation. I’m not the same Fernando they got in here. I’m pretty clear about that. But as the first Fernando, even if I’m incarcerated, I’ll still own my decisions.

And my life. And my desires, my ideas and my actions will go in unison. Prison hasn’t managed to change that. Because prison itself doesn’t change. My enemy, the one who put me here, and the one who showed me the need for the struggle, has not changed either.

Some try to deceive themselves, to justify their personal betrayals. But our enemy hasn’t changed. The enemy is the same, with his own cruelty. Keeping someone 25 years in prison is cruelty. Having someone nineteen of those twenty-five years in isolation modules is cruelty. Prison itself is the symbol of cruelty.

In prison I’ve learned a lot of things. The most important thing, not to bow my head, is that everything I did before I went to prison was well done. That’s the prison lesson.

It’s always worth fighting prison owners. Because if you’re able to harbor this cruelty, you don’t deserve life.

I’ve been listening to other prisoners for twenty-five years, as they say. I’ll get out of here one day. Proud and alive. I’ve chosen how to get out of here. And not my enemies. Because prison won’t limit my restraint. My consistency will do.

Thanks again. Thank you for being by my side for the 25 years. Thank you.”

(Translated with DeepL.com free version)