Family and friends of José Antonio Lasa and José Ignacio Zabala, who were members of ETA, endured a brutal chapter that began with their kidnapping, torture, and eventual killing by GAL in 1983. An organized memorial event is planned for this Saturday in Busot, honoring the two men whose bodies were discovered in connection with the incident. It marks the 40th anniversary of their disappearance.
On October 15, the 40th anniversary of Lasa and Zabala’s abduction in Bayonne, the Basque-French town, will be observed as the Egiari Zor Foundation convenes a series of activities in their memory, beginning with a tribute to both individuals. The killings by ETA’s opponents occurred in the town of Alicante, a detail that has influenced the remembrance in recent years.
Lasa and Zabala were 20 and 21 years old when they were abducted in Bayonne, France, on October 15, 1983. Three months later, a statement sent to Radio Alicante announced that both had been killed by GAL. The claim, coming from an unknown source, lent credence to the report at the time.
Two bodies were found by a hunter on January 20, 1985, at a site known as Bays Foya near Busot. They were buried in a natural grave about six meters deep, with quicklime weighing around 50 kilograms used in the disturbance of the remains.
Initial identifications could not be made, and the remains stayed in the Alicante cemetery until 1995, when they were confirmed as those of Lasa and Zabala.
In relation to these events, the National Court handed down prison terms to several figures associated with the case. Julen Elgorriaga, the former civilian governor of Gipuzkoa, received a 71-year sentence in April 2000; Civil Guard General Enrique Rodríguez Galindo received 69 years; and Lieutenant Colonel Ángel Vaquero was given a similar sentence. Enrique Dorado and Felipe Bayo, civilian guards at the Intxaurrondo barracks, were also held responsible with sentences totaling 67 years and eight months.
On July 25, 2001, the Supreme Court increased the sentences for the five convicts by four years, ruling that their actions went beyond their duties by unlawfully detaining Lasa and Zabala. Rodríguez Galindo served less than five years and was later allowed to complete part of his sentence outside prison due to health reasons.
commemorative events
The relatives and close friends of Lasa and Zabala, together with a representative from Sortu, will visit the site on Saturday. The ceremony will be chaired by Haimar Altuna, a member of Sortu’s General Council, as participants lay flowers at the location where the remains were placed in 1985. The bodies would not be identified until a decade later.
Additionally, next Tuesday the 10th, a Basque director Pablo Malo will present a film about this incident to high school students in Tolosa, Gipuzkoa, the hometown of Lasa and Zabala. Following the screening, which had its premiere at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 2014, students will join a discussion with the victims’ relatives, moderated by Martxelo Otamendi, a former editor of the newspaper Berria.
The event program will conclude with a commemorative gathering at the Topic museum in Tolosa on October 20, bringing the observance to a close.