Tuesday, April 08, 2003

One About Spies

This article at The Guardian talks about the dirty war against the Basque people by Spain, an allegedly democratic state:

Top Spanish spies face jail terms

Giles Tremlett, Madrid
The Guardian,
Monday April 7 2003


Two former heads of Spain's national intelligence service have been given three-year jail terms for illegally spying on a Basque separatist party.

Emilio Manglano and Javier Calderon are expected to remain free pending appeal. A court in Vitoria handed down the sentences after an intelligence team was found to have set up an eavesdropping operation in a flat above the then Herri Batasuna party's headquarters in the city four years ago.

Although Batasuna and its offshoots have since been banned, the sentences against Lieutenant-General Manglano and Mr Calderon are embarrassing to the People's party government of the prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, which was accused of obstructing the investigation.

The government had backed the two men, whose operation was claimed to have provided key information in the fight against the armed separatist group, Eta.

The spies had acted without the permission of a judge when they decided to listen in to telephone conversations at the party's offices and to photograph all visitors.

Two other agents from the intelligence service, who were held when police raided the flat, were given six-month sentences.


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