Spain’s Terror Victims Express Outrage At Court’s Immediate Release Of Two Convicted ETA Terrorists
Spain’s terror victims associations have released a joint statement condemning the decision yesterday by a tribunal at the national High Court in Madrid to order the immediate release from prison of two ETA terrorists; the court ruled that time served in a French jail should be taken into account in their Spanish sentences, following a Council of Europe framework decision on the accumulation of sentences across several EU countries.
A spokeswoman for Spain’s Terror Victim Federation (FVT), which acts as an umbrella organisation for the country’s victims’ associations, told The Spain Report by telephone that reaching consensus on the statement condemning the ruling had been “very easy, because we are all worried and hurt by what has happened”.
“The only thing we want is to live in a democratic country with the rule of law applied to all”, she said, adding that they understood Spanish rule of law should prevale in these cases faced with controversial rulings handed down by European courts.
“We understand the Spanish government is trying [to stop this happening], but not hard enough”.
“We would like to see the decision reversed and the two terrorists back in prison.”
66-year-old Santiago Arrospide Sarasola, known as Santi Potros, was arrested in France in 1987, three months after the bombing that year of the Hipercor supermarket in Barcelona, in which 21 people were killed and 45 injured. Mr. Arrospide ordered the attack.
He was condemned by a French court to 10 years in jail in 1990 and extradited to Spain, where a Spanish court sentenced him to 790 years in prison and, under Spanish sentencing rules, he was not initially due to be released until 2030. This was brought forward to 2025 when the European Court of Human Rights struck down Spain’s Parot Doctrine on sentence reductions for terrorists last year.
Alberto Plazaola Anduaga was sentenced to 46 years in jail in 1997 for terrorist activities and was not due to be released until 2026.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is to appeal the new ruling before the Supreme Court, saying it is “worried” by the different criteria applied by different sections of the same court to similar cases, and that the European framework decision is not a directive.
Ángeles Pedraza, the chairwoman of Spain’s Terror Victims’ Association (AVT), speaking on Spanish radio programmes this morning, said the ruling “seems to me to be the greatest indignity in a country where there has been more than 50 years of murders without any of the victims taking justice into their own hands, and now they have to put up with this”.
She added the government had fooled victims and that “respecting the law now depends on the ideology of the judges”.
In a statement released by the FVT today, the victims associations complain that another section of the national High Court has already denied identical petitions, and say the judge’s ruling is against current Spanish law.
“The aim appears to be none other that preventing terrorist prisoners from serving the full sentences handed down by Spanish courts, which represents an immense humiliation for each and every terror victim”.
“As victims, we can only express our rejection of the lack of sensitivity towards our suffering, given that on innumerable occasions we have expressed our wish that terrorists serve the full sentences handed down to them by Spanish courts, and in which we have placed our trust in justice and the necessary reparations for the terrible damage terrorist activity has caused us.”
The associations have demanded Spain’s Supreme Court hear the public prosecutor’s appeal against the High Court decision to release the two convicted terrorists and “immediately” order measures against his release.
Mr. Arrospide was today filmed walking around the town of Lasarte, in the Basque Country.
Source https://www.thespainreport.com/13014/spains-terror-victims-express-outrage-courts-immediate-release-two-convicted-eta-terrorists/
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