Three advisors of the Andalusian Government participated yesterday in the XXII Conference of the Andalusian Association of Victims of Terrorism, held in Córdoba. With this presence, the Council staged its “support and unity” with victims of terrorism ahead of the legislative change approved by the Congress of Deputies which involves a reduction in the sentences of members of the defunct ETA terrorist group who served years in prison outside Spain.
““More than ever, we need unity in the face of transfers in exchange for votes.”underlined the Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, Antonio Sanz, who chaired the event accompanied by the Minister of University, Research and Innovation, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos, and of Justice, Local Administration and Civil Service, José Antonio Grandson.
Antonio Sanz emphasized during his speech to the congress that “proximity to those who justify the terror in one way or another is pure fertilizer for the forgetting of the victims and that is synonymous with betrayal. For this reason, the advisor argued that “we cannot allow history to be distorted, nor for those who caused so much damage to go unpunished.”
Furthermore, as the Presidency advisor pointed out, “theMurderers are murderers and victims are victimsand it will always be so”, and the Andalusian Government “will always support the memory of the victims and the work that this association carries out”, because the victims of ETA terrorism deserve “absolute respect, and this respect begins with justice full, without shortcuts or concessions.
Therefore, Sanz assured that “the murderers of your loved ones, those who sow terror in the streets, must serve their sentences in full. It’s not just a legal question, it’s a moral question“, specifying that in any case, “memory is not revenge, but an antidote to all forms of violence.” “The victims of terrorism constitute the most incontestable argument against all forms of violence”, -he emphasized.
In this regard, Sanz argued that We are all “called to protect and transmit” the truth about the victims of terrorism“as an inheritance of incalculable value”. “Andalusia and Spain need you,” concluded the advisor.
“This is why it is essential that the representatives of the institutions are at your side, on the side of life, and we strive to make this explicit, especially in a country like Andalusia, which suffered more than 60 attacks. In fact, more than 500 direct victims of ETA are Andalusian and 100 of these cases remain unpunished, the perpetrator is not known, they did not pay for it,” the advisor underlined during his speech.
This shows, as Antonio Sanz indicated, that Andalusia “has paid dearly for the defense of values such as freedom, tolerance and respect for the law”and he did it with “cruel and senseless deaths for Democrats, like all those committed by the terrorist group.”
The result is that “every loss, every hurt, every fear is etched in us forever”, so that the victims know what it means to “fight every day to move forward”, to keep the memory alive of their loved ones, so that “their sacrifice is not forgotten”, and along the way “we fought terrorism, and we did it together”, but, in addition, the victims of terrorism, with their “exemplary behavior” , they offered “the greatest gift to Spain: peaceful coexistence”.
For this reason, as he concluded, “accompanying and providing the necessary assistance is fair, but insufficientThis is why all of us without exception, parties, leaders, educators and families, must protect this truth which accompanies memory, dignity and justice.
