(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Jaime Mayor Oreja, RSF expressed its concern over the bombing of journalist Pedro Briongos’ parents’ home, in Bilbao. “RSF asks you to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the journalist and his relatives,” stated Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary general. RSF also expressed […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Jaime Mayor Oreja, RSF expressed its concern over the bombing of journalist Pedro Briongos’ parents’ home, in Bilbao. “RSF asks you to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the journalist and his relatives,” stated Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary general. RSF also expressed its preoccupation with the degrading work conditions of journalists in the Basque Country region of Spain.
On 21 March 2000, an explosive device caused material damage to Briongos’ parents’ home. Briongos is a correspondent with the daily “El Correo” in Bilbao (northern part of the country). No one was hurt in he explosion, which damaged the door and stairway of the home. The Spanish authorities believe the perpetrators are linked to the Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA). On 18 February, the organisation’s sympathisers called for a boycott of a number of national media, including the dailies “El Correo”, “El Diario Vasco” and “El Diario de Navarra”. The following day, a director of the nationalist National Basque Party (Parti national basque, PNV), Xabier Arzallus, accused a number of journalists of being “Basque anti-nationalists”.