Intellectuals lead a letter ‘Against the whitewashing of ETA and Josu Ternera’, in which the San Sebastián Festival is asked to exclude it from its programming
The Prosecutor’s Office of the National Court analyzes the request made by the association of victims of terrorism Dignity and Justice to examine the interview conducted with former ETA member Josu Urrutikoetxea, Josu Ternera, contained in the documentary made by journalist Jordi Évole that is scheduled to premiere at the 71st edition of the San Sebastián International Film Festival, which is being held from September 22 to 30.
The complaint was formalized before the State Attorney General’s Office, seeking that the Public Ministry verify that there are no indications that its content could constitute a crime of exaltation or contempt for victims. The attorney general has referred the matter to the competent department, which is the National Court Prosecutor’s Office, which has not yet made any decision on the matter, according to It has been pointed out to El Periódico de Españafrom the Prensa Ibérica group.
The documentary ‘Don’t Call Me Ternera’, where Jordi Évole chats with the former leader of the terrorist group ETA, is scheduled to be released later on Netflix, where it can be seen by the general public.
Active judicial process
In its complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office, the association recalls that the former head of ETA has an active judicial process and that the Public Ministry charges him with 11 crimes of completed murder and another 88 in attempted – as many as wounded in the attack on the Zaragoza barracks in 1987 –. In addition, it indicates that a sentence of 2,354 years in prison is requested for him.
Last Monday afternoon, ‘El Diario Vasco’ published a letter, signed by 514 signatures and titled ‘Against the whitening of ETA’ and ‘Josu Ternera’, in which the San Sebastián Festival was asked to will exclude the documentary from its programming by Jordi Évole about the former head of ETA. The letter alleged that “this documentary is part of the bleaching process of ETA and the tragic terrorist history in our country, converted into a justifying and trivializing story that puts murderers and accomplices, victims and resisters on the same level.
The letter also rejected “the claim that Josu Ternera had motives to order dozens of crimes against humanity, including the murder of children for the crime of being children of civil guards. “We deny that such reasons should be exposed and applauded in a cultural event of the highest level.” Among the signatories were personalities as relevant as the philosopher Fernando Savater, the writers Fernando Aramburu, Andrés Trapiello and Felix de Azúavictims of terrorism such as Mari Mar Blanco, Maite Pagazaurtundua either Ruben Mugica and political figures such as Rosa Diez.
The festival goes ahead
On Tuesday, the San Sebastián Festival confirmed in a statement its intention to go ahead with the screening of the documentary. His director, José Luis Rebordinos, explained the reasons for doing so. “Cinema is, among many other things, story source and has often taken care of bringing to the screen protagonists, perpetrators of episodes of unjustifiable violence, but about which he has had the will to investigate,” citing examples such as the documentary films Shoah, about the Holocaust, or The Act of Killing, focused on the massacres that killed one million people in Indonesia in the 1960s.
The text argued that “the nonfiction that concerns us now neither justifies nor whitewashes ETA because this Festival would not screen a film with those premises,” and concluded that “the film ‘Don’t call me Ternera’ has to be seen first and then subjected to criticism and not the other way around.” The person in charge of the festival even offered the possibility of holding a private screening for a small group of signatories.
Jordi Évole, for his part, took advantage of the Festival’s statement to retweet it and add: “Interviewing is not whitewashing. Interviewing does not mean sharing the interviewee’s ideas. It seems unbelievable that we still have to clarify such obvious issues.
Communiqué of the @sansebastianfes about the screening of the documentary Don’t Call Me Veal.
“We believe that the film should be seen first and criticized later and not the other way around”
Thank you @jlrebordinos
Interviewing is not whitewashing.
Interviewing does not mean sharing ideas… pic.twitter.com/vdz42E8s1O— Jordi Évole (@jordievole) September 12, 2023
However, Dignidad y Justicia insists that ‘Josu Ternera’ was responsible “directly or indirectly for many of the attacks by the terrorist group that resulted in death,” pointing out that he is escaped from Spanish justice and that “no matter where you look at it, he is a bloodthirsty terrorist who took the lives of a lot of innocent people and who has never shown the slightest sign of repentance for everything he did”, so he cannot be “whitewashed or humanized.” “his figure.
On the other hand, it affects the fact that the former head of ETA is pending extradition from France to be tried by the Spanish justice system for the attack on the Zaragoza barracks house carried out on December 11, 1987 and in which they were three civil guards and eight of their relatives were murdered, including five minors.
For all these reasons, the association chaired by Daniel Portero indicates that the attorney general, Álvaro García, must think above all “about the pain of living victims that this bloodthirsty terrorist has left in his path”, and must take into account that “this report will cause bleeding from many wounds that have not yet healed, in addition to the possibility of committing the aforementioned crimes”.
The film, scheduled for world premiere, also addresses “some of the decisive moments of ETA” until its dissolution in 2018, as detailed by the San Sebastian event. In addition, the “tense and exhaustive” conversation with Urrutikoetxea allows an ETA victim to resolve unknowns about the attack he suffered almost 50 years ago.