Jan 6th: The Spanish riot police open fire on us in Donostia

The above video was taken on my mobile phone as the police opened fire on us, loosing off round after round of rubber bullets into a densely packed crowd. The sound of the volleys of rubber bullets can clearly be heard, even though no news agency was prepared to report this outrage.

As would be expected the scenes that followed were chaotic and violent and in the vidoe we run for cover into a corner of the Sociedad football stadium where Sociedad were due to play a match against fellow Basque team Osasuna just an hour later. The Basque football fans got caught up in the chaos and the whole area rapidly descended into a mass of rioting, burning barricades, gunfire, and police indiscriminately attacking anyone who looked like a protestor.

It has to be stressed this was a peaceful protest until the Madrid courts and the police combined to create the ugly scenes of violence and mayhem that they evidently desired.


We missed the start of the event because our bus had been stopped outside Donostia by the Guardia Civil, who confiscated our passports, marched us against a wall at gunpoint, and held us for an hour while they searched our bus. An arrest of a French international observer - who was sat in front of us on the bus, a young guy called Sebastian Dadarouet - was reported in the newspaper Gara, in the article above.

The situation facing Sebastian is serious. He was held "incommunicado" for two days and then transferred to another prison where he is now awaiting trial for allegedly "praising terrorism". The detention process before the trial could take up to FOUR YEARS.

I saw everything that happened, as did my daughter, who was with me. When the bus was completely emptied the Guarda Civil searched it and then emerged with what was clearly a magazine with the word ETA on the back, presumably a political magazine published by ETA supporters. The magazine was allegedly found in the overhead locker compartment near where Sebastian was sat. There were no witnesses to the search and it is possible, or even likely, that the GC planted the magazine there. Sebastian was handcuffed and taken away in an unmarked GC van who filmed everything from behind blackened glass.

The reality is that it could have been any one of us on the bus who was detained (which was ferying international observers to the event.) This outrage - one of thousands routinely carried out by the paramilitary force of uniformed thugs that is the Guardia Civil - was an unnecessary and blatant act of provocation and harassment. Solidarity, protests and support for Sebastian is being organised internationally. Please contact you local MP, MSP, newspaper, and let them know what is happening in the Basque Country.