The irony of the situation was in which, while were waited power to woo to Europe to obtain their/its favors, the reflex return to a state terrorism had horrified, without more, to the international public opinion and had increased the foreign isolation of the regime. The disunion cycle of the regime, cohesion of the opposition and world rejection remained underlined graphically by the processes of Burgos. The government, that was waiting to obtain certain prestige from the processes from dieciséis activists from ETA, announced them with precedence. But this produced an explosive situation, that is tradujo in a laden month with marches, protest demonstrations and violent shocks with the policeman.
In addition to assassination of an accused secret policeman of torturing to the stopped, ETA had organized a series of thefts and robberies that they had provided to him/her/you several million of pesetas.
In 1970s, had almost Basque nationalistic three hundred stopped. To call the attention on their/its recoveries and on the next processes of Burgos, 1 of 1970s December a command of ETA kidnaped to Eugen Beihl, Federal Germany consul in San Sebastián, and announced that their/its/your/his luck would depend on the luck on the six etarras on those which were hanging death judgments in the process of Burgos. While they was effected frantic investigations, the Federal Germany authorities, country of important providing, clients and investing in Spain, began to exercise pressures so that the death judgments are not carried out. Was clear that, in otherwise, there would be economic sanctions. Thus, already before beginning, to process had been filed to him/her/you the fangs.
It will be as will be, the judgement was carried with considerable incompetence. The commissioned officers del judgement saw in him an opportunity to obtain a form of personal promotion aiming a tremendous blow to the organization ETA. Thus they converted the judgement in collective judgement, assembling in one alone the dieciséis individual cases. They were not capable of seeing that making this were centering the world attention on the aspirations vascas, shared all over the accuses, instead of concentrating it in the presumed terrorist activities of some of they.
The world opinion was mobilized easily in against of the judgement. The regime no longer could be returned back without suffering a strong humiliation. In any circumstance, instinctive response of the regime first of all opposition was tending be that of to toughen their/its positions, relying in which their/its judicial farces could, generally, be celebrated without advertising. In this case, the judgement of Burgos was one of the longest celebrated during the dictatorship, and was converted in a process to the own regime so much on the part of the etarras accused as of the world press.
That this would be such been the demonstration of the few ability of the regime, especially respect of the growing confrontation with the Church. The displeasure, waited, of the ecclesiastics by a judgement such be saw reinforced by the fact of the fact that two of the accuses were Basque cures. The terms of the Concordat was permitting that a judgement such be celebrated behind closed doors, therefore the bishops of the province vascas began to release an battle so that the judgement is celebrated publicly.
22 of November, the bishop Cirarda, of Bilbao, and that of San Sebastián, Argaya, published a pastoral letter, read in all the churches of Guipúzcoa and Biscay, in the one which were condemning the judicial procedure and the application dela Law of banditry and Terrorism, of recent reintroduction. Were requesting clemency, also, for all the accuses that they could be condemned to death. The Government reacted irately, accusing the political instigator bishops and of prejudgeing a matter that estava sub iudice.
The letter of the bishops had condemned all violence, viniese of where viniese. And this provoked wrathful assaults against the church on the part of the press falangista. The clergy was accused of injerencia in temporary matters, what had not disturbed to the regime when the cures were preaching the franquismo from the pulpits in the years forty. The Justice Ministry was justifying the institutionalized violence of the state as legitimate defense of the authority. Numerous cures were profoundly dissatisfaction, especially because were waited of they that are committed giving their/its/your/his moral benediction to a regime whose acts were considering less and less defensible, in particular when was directed against them same. The Episcopal Conference, gathered in plenary meeting in Madrid, made a statement in the one which was supporting to monsignor Cirarda and to monsignor Argaya, reiterating their/its grace petitions.
The attitude of the Church provided a formidable moral accolade to the force antifranquistas. The unions and clandestine parties were preparing already, in effect, a propaganda operation against the regime. 30 of November was produced a massive demonstration against Exempt in Barcelona: 3.000 students were expressed marching by The Ravines, shattering cars and breaking glass-cases. In Tarrasa, other 4.000 crashed with the policeman. The regime had difficulties to understand that the cause of the Basques was awaking friendliness with the rest of Spain or that the judgement only would bring a generalized slight. When the judgement was begun 3 of December, made it on a trasfondo of strikes and street demonstrations organized by ETA, by the unions and illegal political parties in solidarity with the dieciséis accuses. Two demonstrators finished died by the policeman. 4 of December, the cabinet was gathered in extraordinary meeting and decreed the exception state for Guipúzcoa by three months, with domiciliary records, undefined detentions, prohibition and censorship of the normal mail during all the duration of the judgement.
6 of December, the first accused made their/its/your/his first statement. Before the amazement of all the attendees, the president of the Court, colonel Ordovás, permitted that the accused exposed with all detail the tortures to the fact that had been submitted by the policeman. The three following accuses made other so much. A so opened exposition of the police methods was reflecting probably the displeasure of Ordovás, official of the regular army, by the growing restrictive function attributed to the armed forces. 7 of December, the judgement was postponed and when returned to be resumed was clear that had been ordered to Ordovás that put end to the revelations on the brutality of the policeman. The meeting of the 9 of December ended chaotically. The last accused jumped outside of the witnesses bar and caught an axe, that was there as test, and the others fifteen, handcuffed altogether, they assailed against their/its custodians. After a new postponement, the judgement was resumed behind closed doors. That same night, the mid of exception were extended to all the country.
The judgement was provoking a serious crisis. The violence continued 9 and 10 of December, with shocks among the policeman and the demonstrators in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Oviedo, Seville and Pamplona. The day 12 of December, 300 artists and intellectual Catalan were enclosed the the abbey of Montserrat and launched a manifesto in the one which were requesting the political amnesty, democratic freedoms and the right to the autodeterminación regional. The occupation ended 14, since the demonstrators feared that the abbot and the monks suffered the governmental reprisals. However, days after, the abbot, dom. Cassiá Just, was declaring in Peel To him/her/you that the church would not be associated to a regime that was condemning to the people, included the catholics, by the only one crime of be opposed to Exempt.
