The Basque town of Altsasu has seen the same vigil every Friday night for the last three years. Attendees call for the release of seven young Basque men who have fallen victim to what they call a politically motivated miscarriage of justice.
The men were imprisoned after getting into a bar fight with two off-duty officers from Spain’s Guardia Civil, and their girlfriends, in the early hours of 15 October 2016 in Altsasu, a town in the Basque region of Navarra. The most serious injury in the brawl was a broken ankle – sustained by one of the police officers. But a controversial trial in Madrid’s Audiencia Nacional saw eight defendants tried with terrorism offences and hate crimes, with each facing up to 62 years in prison.
