SPAIN’S Supreme Court has come under fire from Basque independence activists after deciding to re-try Arnaldo Otegi and four others whose previous trial in 2011 was deemed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to have breached their right to a fair trial.
Two years ago, the ECHR ruled they had been found guilty of terrorism offences – allegedly being members of ETA – after an “unjust” trial. However, they were already free, having served their sentences which had been reduced by the Supreme Court.
Rafa Diez, Sonia Jacinto, Miren Zabaleta, Arkaitz Rodríguez and Otegi were each sentenced to 10 years in prison – later reduced to six-and-a-half.
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Otegi, a senior figure in the pro-independence Euskal Herria Bildu (EH Bildu) party, also played a leading role in the Basque peace process that brought about ETA’s disarmament in 2017 and its complete dissolution the following year. But the Supreme Court reopened his case in September, after a request from the far-right Vox party, which also played a role in the trial of Catalan indy activists over the 2017 indyref.
In a statement, EH Bildu said: “The Spanish deep state seems unable to forgive the role Arnaldo Otegi played in building the peace process and the constructive contributions to a better future EH Bildu is making, evidenced by its role supporting the current government. This is an attack on Arnaldo Otegi and the Basque pro-independence left but it is also an attempt to hinder progress on the democratic resolution of the conflict.”
Dialogue and negotiation were the only way to solve the conflict, they said, adding: “It is the first time the Supreme Court has decided to repeat a trial after it had been annulled by the ECHR. This is a clear legal outrage, and its motivation is undoubtedly political.”
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