The murder of Real Sociedad supporter Aitor Zabaleta at the hands of Atlético de Madrid ultras, the limitations of the two subsequent judicial processes and the public ridicule that the family had to suffer caused wounds that, 25 years later of that crime, they still ooze. The sad anniversary that is remembered these days, with a notable echo in Gipuzkoa, is serving to recover the memory of the young man and remember that injustice, something that the family appreciates; however, when knocking on the door of his relatives, an unavoidable list of grievances comes up that shows the judicial and social response that was given to this family, especially from the world of football.
As it was 25 years ago, the Aratz restaurant in Sant Sebastià, located in the Ibaeta neighborhood, is the headquarters of the Zabaleta family. It is run by Iker and Xabier, two of Aitor's four brothers. Chatting with the first of them, the oldest, it is impossible not to remember Javier Zabaleta, the father of the young man killed by neo-Nazis from the Bastión group. He died six years ago, having fought to the end for justice to be done for his son and an end to permissiveness in relation to the ultras. Iker is his living portrait and expresses himself with the same firmness.
"It is clear that justice has not been done. There was only one convict, although we know that he was held and killed among a few. Those who murdered him, moreover, functioned as a criminal group, but Bastión got away unpunished. And that's not to mention the ridicule that the family members have had to live through: thousands of people chanting slogans against the victim with total impunity and in the face of the passivity of Atlético de Madrid and the referees, calls to our home to threaten -us, an insane trial in which it seemed that the ultras were at home...", explains Iker Zabaleta.
The murder was committed on the afternoon of December 8, 1998, 25 years ago today, in the preliminaries of a match between Atlético de Madrid and Real Sociedad. The 28-year-old went with his girlfriend to Madrid on a trip organized by Izar, a group of women without even the remotest link to the ultra universe. After lunch in a shopping center in Alcobendas, when they were walking around the stadium, they asked a policeman for somewhere to "get something"; it is at this point that a key event occurred that was not even judged. The agent sent them to the Parador bar, where the Frente Atlético ultra faction, known as Bastión, was meeting.
"As soon as we entered, a lady who worked in a kiosk alerted a colleague and told us to run away, that the ultras were gathering there", explains Maider Gorostidi, who went there with her mother and others friends from the rock They began to leave discreetly, and the insults began: "'Speak Spanish, you whore!', they shouted at me." And then came the blows, "in the face of the passivity of the Police". "'They are giving you what you deserve, sons of bitches,' a policeman told me," adds Gorostidi, who is now a psychologist by profession and was then a student of only 20 years.
In the middle of that collective attack, Aitor Zabaleta stayed behind, defending a 6-year-old boy and his mother, who were being scolded by the neo-Nazis. Then he was intercepted by a group of ultras, they grabbed him and one of them stabbed him in the chest. At the trial, it was ruled that Ricardo Guerra Cuadrado was the only one convicted. Another of the suspects of having participated in the crime was Ignacio Racionero, then acquitted and arrested in 2018 for having stabbed an Atlético de Madrid fan.
"The trial was a farce. The policeman who urged them to go to that bar didn't even show up. Supposedly they didn't locate him, but we all know it's very easy to find out who was patrolling at that point and time. They only convicted Ricardo Guerra, but we know that a few ultras participated", adds Iker Zabaleta. The material author was sentenced to 17 years. In 2012 he was caught smuggling drugs into prison after a leave and in 2018 he was arrested with other Atlético ultras in Bruges.
The Movement against Intolerance, chaired by Esteban Ibarra, supported the popular accusation in the trials. Regarding the first, he questions that no aggravating factors were applied: "He was murdered for being Basque and from Real, but since they are not included in the Penal Code, the aggravating factors for sporting and territorial identity were not applied. It is a question that we are still asking".
Regarding the second trial, Ibarra is very critical of the sentence: "It was the trial in Bastión, which carried out an attack in which 50 or 60 subjects participated. The Prosecutor's Office dedicated itself to dismantling our request that they be sentenced for illicit association, despite the fact that the head of the police's urban tribes brigade made it clear what Bastión was. They were only convicted of public disorder. None went to jail. Then I said that it was very cheap for them to kill, and today I stand by it."
