First Via Laietana torture victim to testify hopes to pave way for others

82-year-old activist Blanca Serra testified before the Prosecutor's Office of Democratic Memory in Barcelona on Monday, hoping that her case will pave the way for the investigation and recognition of more victims of police abuse during the Franco regime and Spain's transition to democracy.

Serra, accompanied by civil society organizations and fellow activists, emphasized her determination to share her story, the first time a torture survivor from the infamous Via Laietana police station has testified before prosecutors.

Blanca and her late sister Eva Serra suffered both physical and psychological abuse in February 1977, as part of systematic political repression which had been imposed during the fascist dictatorship.

Members of the ANC (Catalan National Assembly) and other human rights groups and pro-independence organizations showed their support for Serra at the City of Justice legal complex. 

Torturers and tortured

Before entering to testify, Serra said that she did not have much confidence that her case would go ahead, but she hoped that it would benefit others with cases and would reignite calls to turn the Via Laietana police station into a site of remembrance.

"It's intolerable to think that those that tortured others and those that were tortured could share the same building, one floor for one, another for the others. That just can't be," Serra said.

"I hope people keep talking about what happened, especially young people. I hope they realise what happened, what's still happening, and what could happen again," she added.

The ANC expressed their "full support" for Serra, a member and founder of the organization. A delegation led by Lluís Llach and Julià de Jòdar accompanied her on Monday.

In a statement, the ANC said that Serra's testimony "not only represents an act of dignity and individual courage, but also a key step on the collective path towards truth, justice and reparation."

Testimony

Serra spent about two hours with the prosecutor, accompanied by the writer and former CUP MP Julià de Jòdar.

Her lawyers were not present for the testimony.

Serra's statement was recorded but will not be published, with the prosecutor's investigation proceedings being secret.

Serra explained in detail the four arrests and mistreatment she received at the Via Laietana police station and at the General Directorate of Security of the National Police in Madrid during Spain's transition to democracy.

Upon leaving, Serra said that she felt "supported" by the prosecutor, but also "strange," because for the first time she was not testifying as the accused but as the accuser.

Her lawyer, Sònia Olivella, said that this statement is the first step in a long investigation that may access police, judicial or prison archives and documents that until now the prosecution has not been able to access for various reasons.

Late justice

Anaïs Franquesa, director of the human rights organization Irídia, thanked Serra for her "courage, perseverance and conviction," praising her and others subjected to reprisals by the dictatorship who "have been fighting and demanding justice for decades."

She described the day as historic, because it marks the first time that a person tortured at the Via Laietana police station has legally testified.

"Justice has come very late, because many of those subjected to reprisals are no longer with us," she said, adding that they want Serra's testimony "to be the first of many."

"There is still a lot of work to be done. It is not over."

What happened at the Via Laietana police station were "crimes against humanity," Franquesa said. 

"They do not have a statute of limitations, they are crimes that must be investigated, tried and condemned in a full democracy."

The building must be a "place of memory without a police presence" and managed by appropriate organizations, she added.

Perseverance

Xavier Antich, president of Òmnium, said that a "crack" has been exploited in the case of Blanca Serra to bring to justice "crimes that do not have a statute of limitations," after "two very serious attempts were blocked by the courts in recent years".

Antich said it was important that we begin to talk about reparation for the victims of the Franco regime in court, after 50 years of "the Spanish state trying to bury events in oblivion and forgetfulness."

He thanked the Serra sisters for their "perseverance," adding: "We must continue to press against the impunity of the dictatorship and the transition period.

We are not asking for anything different from other countries that have emerged from a dictatorship: memory, truth, justice and reparation."

Arrests and torture

The legal complaint filed with the prosecutor's office last November covers four occasions when the sisters were arrested for political reasons and allegedly tortured by the Political-Social Brigade secret police between 1977 and 1982.

However, only the detention and torture in February 1977 falls within the period covered by Spain's democratic memory law, in terms of the state's responsibility to guarantee the right to truth, reparation and non-repetition.

Two previous complaints supported by the Prosecutor's Office were dismissed by judges, citing either statute of limitations or protection under Spain's 1977 Amnesty Law.

Perfect target: Catalan and women

In November, Blanca Serra, the only surviving sister of two, publicly announced that she and her sister Eva were tortured between 1977 and 1982, with the last three incidents occurring after the Spanish Constitution was already in place.

Serra said that the fact that they were both "Catalan and women" meant that they were the "perfect target" for torture.