Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon bans the two remaining pro-independence parties ANV and EHAK.
Spanish police arrested yesterday 14 prominent members of Batasuna.
II International Week of Solidarity with the Basque Country.
6.000 signatures in favour of Arnaldo Otegi's immediate release.
Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon bans the two remaining pro-independence parties ANV and EHAK..
On the 8th February 2008, judge Garzon ordered police authorities to shut down the offices of the remaining legal parties ANV, the Basque Nationalist Action party and EHAK The Communist Party of the Basque Lands. The two parties will be banned for 3 years. Their bank accounts have been frozen. They are also banned from standing in the next general elections that will take place on the 9th of March.
Judge Baltasar Garzon of the Spanish High Court accused the two parties, the Basque Nationalist Action party and the Communist party of the Basque Country of being inked to Batasuna.
Batasuna was declared illegal in 2003 and is banned from standing candidates in elections, the judge's ruling means that no Basque left-wing pro-independence party will be represented in the March 9 election.
The Supreme Court has also been presented with separate lawsuits from Spanish prosecutors to completely outlaw these two parties.
In 2003, the Supreme Court outlawed Batasuna on the grounds that it was part of ETA. To get around it Batasuna resurrected two small parties and had candidates standing for these 2 parties.
The Communist Party of the Basque Lands, EHAK, won nine seats in the 75-member Basque regional parliament in 2005.
Basque Nationalist Action Party, took part in municipal elections last year. Though half of its candidates were banned over alleged links to Batasuna, those remaining won 437 seats in towns and villages throughout the Basque Country.
This time around the Spanish judge is making sure that no left wing pro-independence party stands in the March elections.
The majority of Basque political parties and trade unions denounced this new attack.
Batasuna said that if the Spanish state takes everything as a “terrorist” act then Spain has a big problem. Batasuna repited once again that it is impossible to ban 15-20% of the population. If there was ever any doubt about the democratic character of the Spanish State, it is now obvious that it is a complete farce according to Batasuna.
Batasuna spokesperson and former member of the European Parliament Karmelo Landa told a local newspaper, a few hours before getting arrested that the best way to overcome these attacks is by multiplying political work. He said that despite the pro-independence movement spokespeople being arrested hundreds more come up at a local level, in universities, factories, etc. Landa said that at this stage the Spanish state can’t deny the existence of the Basque Country as a nation and the right of its people to decide about their future. This is a victory they try to destroy by using repression.
Landa was just back from Brussels where he met European politicians who were astonished at the terrible political developments in the Basque Country.
Spanish police arrested yesterday 14 prominent members of Batasuna..
Among the arrested were Karmelo Landa former Member of the European Parliament and Eusebio Lasa, Batasuna’s spokesperson.
The arrests happened yesterday morning. Most of the arrests were ordered by the leading anti-terrorist Judge Baltasar Garzon.
Garzon argues that the arrested were to become the new executive of the outlawed party Batasuna. Batasuna, was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 2003 on the grounds that it is part of the armed group ETA.
Police searched the houses of Karmelo Landa and Mikel Etxaburu, arrested in Bilbao, and seized several computers. According to the Basque public media, police also searched several houses in other Basque towns.
Protests were organised inmediately in hundreds of towns all accross the Basque Country : picket lines, road blockades, protests at local council meetings, press conferences, demonstrations...etc. These are happening on a daily basis.
II International Week of Solidarity with the Basque Country..
Participation in the Second International Week of Solidarity with the Basque Country has been very large and crowded. Although we do not have all the data on the table, we can show a profound joy: activities have been conducted in about 25 cities, and that means double the amount of mobilizations of last year's I Week of Solidarity. This year also more people have taken part in the different acts, as over 2,000 people have participated in various rallies, lectures, video, dinners, etc. Moreover, the groups of solidarity with the Basque Country, 'Euskal Herriaren Lagunak' (EHL), have increased and so has the participation of other groups, and social and political organizations. For all these reasons, Askapena congratulates all the ones who have been working in the EHL groups, as well as all the organizations and groups who have taken part in the Second International Week of Solidarity with the Basque Country.
Full news from Askapena at
http://www.askapena.org/berriak/men/karpeta_en/9927/ind_aska
6.000 signatures in favour of Arnaldo Otegi's immediate release..
Already a month since the www.arnaldoaskatu.org web page was presented they and more than 6.000.000 signatures have demanded Arnaldo Otegi's immediate freedom, among which can be found the support and solidarity of many international organisations and politicians.
Those signing the document emphasize both the important roll carried out by Arnaldo Otegi as main spokesman of the Basque Pro-independence Left as well as by the important paper carried out in the political process, and indicate that its imprisonment is very serious underlining that behind its imprisonment hides a political decision.
