Évole criticizes the "noise" of 'Don't call me Ternera': "There are people who say 'let Txapote vote for you' without knowing who it was"

The communicator defends the interview because it has an "indisputable" interest: "A country must look at its past with courage"

SAN SEBASTIÁN, 23 (from the special envoy of EUROPA PRESS, Fran Serrano)

The journalist Jordi Évole has criticized the "noise" caused by the premiere of the documentary 'Don't call me Ternera' at the San Sebastián Festival in which he collects the testimony of former ETA member Josu Ternera, about whom he claims to be "disappointed" by his little "conciliatory" language.

"Today we see surveys that show that young people between 20 and 25 years old do not know who Miguel Ángel Blanco was. It is an anomaly of this country that does not know how to look at its past even if it hurts. History hurts but we have to decide if we want to be in the part that sings 'Let Txapote vote for you' or in the part of knowing who Txapote was, the murderer of Miguel Ángel Blanco. I know where I want to be," he said at a press conference at the Kursaal Conference Center in San Sebastián, along to the co-director of the documentary, Màrius Sánchez.

The journalist regretted that "in a festival in which films by people like Fernando Trueba, J.A. Bayona or Isabel Coixet are presented" it has made so much "noise." "It was not our intention to arrive with so much expectation," he stated.

Both directors have revealed that the interview lasted a total of nine hours, which has led them to spend a year editing the final result. Évole has acknowledged that he was surprised because he did not expect the documentary to "grow as he has", while he has confessed that he knew it was a "thorny" issue. "No matter where you take it, this matter always hurts you," she commented.

Asked about his opinion of Josu Ternera, the journalist stated that he is a "militant who puts the organization above everything." "As for the content of the interview, we were disappointed by Josu Ternera in the sense that we would have wanted more conciliatory language. We would have liked there to be kinder words. He spoke much more internally than externally and spoke much more the prisoners who are still in jail serving sentences and that almost annuls the possibility of there being a more conciliatory discourse. I suppose I didn't want to make an amendment to the entirety either," said Évole, who added that on the Abertzale left there are "a certain cowardice when it comes to saying everything you think."

Furthermore, the journalist has indicated that the ETA member did not set any conditions for doing the interview. "If he had done it, we would not have agreed to interview him," he stressed. In the documentary, Francisco Ruiz Sánchez, victim of an attack, also appears, and as Màrius Sánchez has commented, they consider that it was "justice" to have him present. "He is a person who has experienced a murder firsthand," he recalled.

One of the moments in which Josu Ternera's words surprised Évole was when they mentioned the murder of María Dolores González 'Yoyes'. "I thought there might be some repentance, but that wasn't the case. He said that his murder was a decision by the organization that had a problem with people who wanted to reintegrate again. After that response, it was clear to me that there wouldn't be much movement of opinion as we have seen on other occasions," he highlighted.

During the press conference, Évole defended this interview by ensuring that it has "indisputable" journalistic interest and claimed that one must know how to look at the past with "braveness." "This is an anomaly of this country. A state must look at its past with courage and without fear. The history of all countries hurts, and ours too," she maintained.

In this sense, the journalist has continued to defend the value of interviewing Josu Ternera and has added that "it is important to know the point of view, no matter how horrible it may be." "There was also a historical will behind it. When in a few years there are those who want to know how ETA reasoned, how an ETA leader reasoned, there will be a place where they can see how the attacks occurred or each of the requests and power put history in its place," he assured.

On the other hand, Évole has referred to the statement of 514 people, among others victims of terrorism, politicians, or writers such as Mari Mar Blanco, Ana Iribar, Carmelo Barrio, Fernando Savater or Fernando Aramburu. "Evidently we expected a certain noise but not that much, and we also did not expect a request for what could be called preventive censorship," he confessed.

"Those who made the statement against the documentary have marked where the comments on the film would go. We would have liked a prior viewing," he indicated.

In relation to those who have accused him of "whitewashing" terrorism, Évole has responded that they are "wrong" for using that term because "interviewing is not whitewashing and asking is not whitewashing either." "If they have reached that conclusion it is because they know little about us," he added.

Finally, the journalist appeals not to talk about the victims as a "homogeneous" group because "they are not a single and abstract mass." "I have spoken with victims who have a conciliatory discourse that I admire. There are specific people, and I can guarantee you that there have been many, who have approached us to tell us that what we have done is very good."