What started as a celebration of a football victory, ended with tears and chaos when the Ertzaintza, the Basque police force, interrupted pushing the situation out of control. Iñigo Cabacas, a 28 year old supporter of Athletic Club Bilbao, was shot in the head with a rubber bullet by riot police after last week's Europa League game against Schalke 04.
Four days later, Rodolfo Ares, the Basque regional interior chief, held a press conference to clarify matters. In his briefing, he claimed Iñigo was already injured when the Ertzaintza arrived, though witnesses contradict this. He also claimed that the Ertzaintza’s force was necessary as a response to earlier action. Once again, witnesses disagree on what happened. However, after the autopsy revealed that the injuries received by Iñigo were consistent with rubber balls fired at close range, Ares held a second press conference where he changed the direction of his speech. Also, he made allusions to Iñigo’s political ideologies, which are unknown and irrelevant, to divert the media’s attention from police responsibilities. In fact, two weeks later, Ares has not said if he will resign but he says that the responsibilities will be purified if they were any, doubting what the autopsy confirms.
At the heart of the story is a family who have lost a child to a violent death, a group of friends who lost a mate in a night that was supposed to be about celebration and Athletic Club de Bilbao supporters who are shocked and deeply saddened by his death. He is gone and nothing will bring him back. However, we must stand together and seek the truth, because it could happen again to anyone of us at any time.
The police are supposed to make us feel safe and protected. Instead, people feel scared when they are around, as bullets are blind and anyone could be inadvertently injured or killed. That's because, nowadays, we hear about more and more cases of abuse of power and judiciary impunity. Iñigo’s death must not be in vain, we stand together and seek the truth. We must demand:
- A more fair and transparent system, one that will end the unacceptable practice of police investigating themselves. They must investigate thoroughly and bring those responsible for the unacceptable police response.
- We demand Rodolfo Ares resignation over Iñigo’s Cabacas death.
We demand, justice!
Football fans don't deserve this police abuse.
Thank you very much for reading. Please share his story with your friends and repost it on the net.
April 16, 2012
At the heart of the story is a family who have lost a child to a violent death, a group of friends who lost a mate in a night that was supposed to be about celebration and Athletic Club de Bilbao supporters who are shocked and deeply saddened by his death. He is gone and nothing will bring him back. However, we must stand together and seek the truth, because it could happen again to anyone of us at any time.
The police are supposed to make us feel safe and protected. Instead, people feel scared when they are around, as bullets are blind and anyone could be inadvertently injured or killed. That's because, nowadays, we hear about more and more cases of abuse of power and judiciary impunity. Iñigo’s death must not be in vain, we stand together and seek the truth. We must demand:
- A more fair and transparent system, one that will end the unacceptable practice of police investigating themselves. They must investigate thoroughly and bring those responsible for the unacceptable police response.
- We demand Rodolfo Ares resignation over Iñigo’s Cabacas death.
We demand, justice!
Football fans don't deserve this police abuse.
Thank you very much for reading. Please share his story with your friends and repost it on the net.
April 16, 2012
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