Skip to content or view screen version

Action week in Holland

Mel | 11.04.2003 14:12

Action week in Holland against the extradition of the Catalan Political Prisoner Juanra to Spain

Action week for Juanra
No extradition to Spain!
Come to The Hague!

Since January 2002, the Catalan political activist Juanra has been (with
an interruption of several months) held in the prison at Vught. The Dutch
court decided last October that his extradition to Spain is allowable.

For the court, the facts that in Spain, political opposition has the screws
applied to it with blatant violence and repression, and that political
prisoners are systematically tortured, could not outweigh the agreements
that have been made in Europe concerning extradition procedures.
If Juanra also loses his appeal on April 8 against this verdict, then the judicial
battle is lost. After that, it is up to Donner, the minister of Justice,
to decide whether he will grant Juanra's extradition his political stamp
of approval.

That must not be allowed to happen. To raise the political pressure and
to generate media attention for his case, there will be an action camp set
up by the Binnenhof (the courtyard of the Dutch parliament) in The Hague.
Several people from Catalonia, the Basque country and the Netherlands will
go on a hunger strike in solidarity with Juanra during these days. On 'het
Plein' in The Hague, two tents will be pitched which will function as an
action centre for this time. We want to think of and carry out even more
actions on location, for which all assistance is welcome. Street theater,
picket lines, handing out brochures, and so on, the sky's the limit.

Preliminary programme, a number of things are sure to be changed:

*Monday, April 7: 4.00pm Filing charges against Premier Aznar and
judge Garzon at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Meet by
the action tent.

*Tuesday, April 8: 4.00pm Press conference in the action tent in
response to the Supreme Court's verdict.
*Wednesday, April 9: 2.00pm-4.00pm. Politicians are invited to talk
about the parliamentary possibilities that have as yet gone unused.

Juanra's case and the political situation in Spain are to be the main
focus, but the tension between extradition and human rights in general
will also be discussed. Experts on the subject of extradition,
European and international justitial co-operation and human rights
will also be present.

*Thursday, April 10: 2.00pm-6.00pm. Conclusion of the action week

Throughout: an exhibition and information stand about Juanra's case and
the political situation in Spain.

More info on:  http://www.freejuanra.org


_______________________________________________

Mel