FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 93 - ENGLISH

23 EDUCATION, CULTURE AND COEXISTENCE lence has marked our societies and also our narratives about the social identity”. María Zarauz, managing director of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, em- phasised the fundamental role of com- municators in transmitting knowledge about terrorism and its effects. “Infor- mation professionals have been direct witnesses to tragedies that have marked our history, and their work has been key to preserving the memory of the victims,” she said. For his part, Gaizka Fernández, head of research at the Memorial Centre for Victims of Terrorism, recalled the murder of journalist José Luis López de Lacalle in 2000 to emphasise to the stu- dents that "no matter how much fanat- ical groups strive to restrict freedom of expression, they will not succeed." may strive to restrict free- dom of expression, they will not succeed." The mee ting continued with a dialogue between Alejandro Ruiz-Huerta, retired professor of Consti- tutional Law at the University of Córdoba and survivor of the attack on the labour lawyers in Atocha, and María Jiménez, professor at the Faculty of Communica- tion. In their conversation, Ruiz-Huerta, author of the book Violence, Compas- sion, Memory, recounted how he expe- rienced the events of 24 January 1977, when a far-right commando assassinat- ed five labour lawyers from the Atocha 55 law firm and wounded four others, of whom Ruiz-Huerta is now the only one still alive. "We weren't superheroes, but lawyers committed to Spain's transition to democracy," he said. He emphasised how, over the years, some people have questioned his account of what hap- pened. In response, Ruiz-Huerta, para- phrasing his colleague and fellow survi- vor Miguel Sarabia, invited those present to remember the victims of violence: "We must say their names slowly because, by saying them, the story takes on mean- ing and puts in harmony with the Universe”. Towards the end of the con- versation, Pro- fessor Jiménez read an excerpt from the book in which Ruiz-Huerta reflects on the capacity of compassion to provide a revolutionary response revolutionary response to violence. The lawyer added that, over the years, he had embarked on a path towards compassion that had led him to "consider that the Atocha murder- ers had rights and, therefore, are entitled to a second chance".