The head of the Basque government and his chief opponent went on trial on Thursday over past contacts with the banned political wing of the armed separatist group ETA, just weeks before they are to face off in regional elections.
Juan Jose Ibarretxe, member of the governing Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), and Patxi Lopez, regional leader of Spain’s ruling Socialist Party, face possible prison terms and bans on political activity if found guilty.
But the two, along with another senior member of the Basque branch of the Socialist Party, Rodolfo Ares, who is also on trial, are not expected to be convicted as prosecutors have called for the charges against them to be dropped.
During the first session of the trial, prosecutor Maria Angeles Montes asked the court to shelve the affair based on a previous Supreme Court ruling that a trial can not be held if the accusation is not backed by either prosecutors or the direct victims of a crime.
But Ibarretxe’s lawyer, Mikel Casas, surprised the court with a request that the trial continue to the end to obtain a ruling that proves his client “was right.”
“We want to prove the innocence of the Lehendakari as well as that of the others. What they did, taking a step forward to search for peace, was fair and legitimate,” he told the court, using the Basque name for the head of the northern region’s government.
The court suspended the trial after the morning session to consider the request of prosecution lawyers. It will issue its decision on Monday.
The three politicians are accused of repeatedly meeting leaders of Batasuna — ETA’s political wing — during the failed bid by the government of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to negotiate peace with the militant separatist group in 2006.
Batasuna has been outlawed since 2003 for refusing to condemn violence and cut its links to ETA, which has killed 825 people in a 40-year-old campaign for an independent Basque homeland.
Five senior Batasuna members, including veteran Arnaldo Otegi, are also on trial for disobeying the court order to disband.
All three politicians have admitted contacts with Batasuna, but as part of moves to push forward the peace process.
Ibarretxe last week announced regional elections for March 1, in which he is hoping to secure a fourth successive mandate.
But opinion polls indicate his PNV, which has governed the region since 1980, risks being defeated by the Socialists, led by Lopez.
The trial, which was originally expected to last three weeks, is the result of complaints filed by two associations opposed to talks with ETA, the Forum Ermua and Dignity and Justice.
Among witnesses expected to make statements at the trial are Zapatero, who could be asked to respond to questions from the court in writing, and his two predecessors, Jose Maria Aznar and Felipe Gonzalez.
Zapatero tried unsuccessfully to resolve the Basque problem in 2006. But he has taken a hard line against the separatists since ETA called off a 15-month-old ceasefire in June 2007 and has repeatedly ruled out any new negotiations.
All eight defendants — the three politicians and five Batasuna members — were in court on Thursday but did not take the stand.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
Pakistani police yesterday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account. In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces. “The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson said. Investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday “for honor,” the police report said. The man was subsequently arrested. The girl’s family initially tried to “portray the murder as a suicide” said police in