Release Patxi Ruiz and all Basque Political Prisoners!

The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) Europe Working Committee expresses concern about the health situation of Basque political prisoner Patxi Ruiz and calls for his immediate release.

Since 10 May, Patxi Ruiz has been in hunger and thirst strike in the Murcia II, Basque Country prison to protest the harassment and threats being committed by jail authorities. Several other prisoners in Murcia II and Cordoba jails have also gone on hunger strike in solidarity with Ruiz.

Ruiz resorted to a hunger strike after jail authorities began threatening him for allegedly instigating political meetings in prison. He has been in prison since 1998. Patxi Ruiz’s health condition is getting worse as his kidneys are starting to fail.

Moreover, the condition in the Murcia II prison and other prisons in Spain is a major cause of concern amid the threat of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. Spain has been one of the hardest-hit countries in the world.

The ILPS Europe Working Committee is calling on the Spanish State to:

Release ailing prisoners and those who have almost completed their sentences
Allow political prisoners to receive visitors
Provide all prisoners masks, gloves and other paraphernalia to protect them from Covid-19
Test all prisoners and prison officers
Allow political prisoner to attend funerals, in the event of death of a relative (Ruiz himself was denied this when his father died)
Immediately release of all Basque political prisoners
We enjoin all ILPS members, networks and allies to protest about the current situation and to express their solidarity with the political prisoners in Basque Country.
Free all political prisoners!

Reference:
The ILPS Europe Working Committee
[email protected]