Spain: Soldier on fascist march kills under-age protestor
01 January 2008
On 11 November 2007, Carlos Javier Palomino died after he was stabbed to death on a train in Legapzi metro station by a 24-year-old off-duty soldier who was on his way to a fascist march against immigration in Usera (a neighbourhood in the south of the city where many migrants live) by
Democracia Nacional. The 16-year old and his group were travelling to demonstrate against the far-right march. Palomino was stabbed in the heart through his thorax with a hunting knife (a machete according to some reports) and attempts to revive him failed. Three others also received knife wounds, serious in the case of a 19-year-old who was stabbed in the chest and had his lung pierced. The attacker, Josué Estébanez de la Hija was arrested by police and Metro security staff as he fled the station, after being chased by the anti-fascists. He was remanded in custody on 13 November, and military sources stated that he was suspended from duty and would be held in Alcalá de Henares military prison until he appeared in court. If convicted would then be stripped of his military status, and serve his sentence in a civilian prison. His lawyer complained about the media treatment surrounding the case, arguing that he "has been convicted before being tried"
A girl in Palomino's group said that the attack was unprovoked and friends told El Mundo newspaper that:
He was a kid from a working class family with few economic resources who wanted things to be better for everyone, and now a fascist has killed him.
Shortly afterwards, there were clashes between anti-fascists seeking to stop the demonstration and police officers protecting it. Four people were arrested, three of those opposing the march and one man who was on it. There were further disturbances that evening in Malasaña. The killing resulted in nationwide gatherings and demonstrations by anti-fascists. In Barcelona, where there were police charges, rubber bullets were fired and 22 officers of the
Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police force) were reportedly injured, leading to the arrest of seven protestors. A fortnight later, on 24 November, there were clashes involving police charges by officers armed with truncheons and the firing of rubber bullets. Bottles and missiles were thrown by anti-fascists during a march in memory of the youth from Atocha station to Legazpi after the government's representative in Madrid banned the march.
An article in
Diagonal newspaper examined how the murder was presented in the media to give the impression that it was a clash between radical groups that resulted in a death, rather than an unprovoked knife attack by a soldier supporting a fascist march on youths travelling to demonstrate against racism. Some of the main trends highlighted, were the use of unchecked police reports in describing anti-fascist groups, who were presented as the alter-ego of fascist groups, and criminalised by going so far as to allege links with "ETA-Batasuna". It was an impression that was heightened in coverage of gatherings in memory of Palomino in subsequent weeks, at which violence between police and demonstrators occasionally broke out.
Diagonal regularly reports instances of attacks by fascists, and noted that a soldier from a Parachute brigade was arrested following attacks on passers-by around 30 fascists in the streets of the Barrio del Pilar neighbourhood in September. A further attack in this neighbourhood in December targeted the
La Piluka cultural centre. The growing problem of fascists in positions of authority on the streets was further highlighted in the attack by a security guard on duty in Aravaca train station against a left-wing militant, also in December.
El País, 12, 16, 25.11.07, 9.1.08; Agencia EFE 13.11.07; El Mundo 12, 16, 19.11.07; Las Provincias, 19.11.07; La Vanguardia, 12.11.07; Diagonal, nos. 66 (29.11-12.12.07), 68 (26.12.07-9.1.08) and 69 (10.1-23.1.08).