Double Standard

Funny thing, the Spanish politicians are constantly using the country's judiciary to find a way to advance their political repression of the Basque Country. Who can forget the figure of Baltasar Garzón who without regard for the name of the person occupying in La Moncloa has managed to be the shinning star of a macabre show, one in which the Spanish judges are willing to break any law as to ensure that their masters in Madrid can freely maneuver in their crusade to maintain the colonial grip over an entire people.

Well, now that the Basque parliament requested the liberation of Batasuna's members imprisoned for exercising their democratic right to gather, some Spanish politicians dared to state that this can not be, that there is something called division of powers and that the regional parliament can not decide what the judiciary does.

Here you have the note published by the International Herald Tribune:

Spain rejects Basque regional parliament's motion to free detained separatists

The Associated Press
Saturday, October 27, 2007

MADRID, Spain: Spain's government on Saturday rejected a motion passed by the Basque regional parliament calling for the release of separatist leaders detained earlier this month on suspicion of belonging to an illegal party linked to armed group ETA.

The Basque parliament passed the motion Friday challenging the National Court's decision to order the detention of suspected members of the Batasuna party.

On Oct. 7, judge Baltasar Garzon ordered the arrest of 17 suspected members of Batasuna following a police raid on a meeting in the Basque town of Segura.

The Basque parliament's motion said that "those people who have been detained and imprisoned while exercising basic rights such as that of assembly should recover their freedom."

The motion was able to pass because of support from Basque nationalist parties, despite opposition by Socialist and conservative Popular Party lawmakers in the regional parliament.

Spain's government criticized the motion, saying the independence of the judiciary must be preserved.

"Political debate cannot and should not question something as basic and essential as judicial independence, even when one does not agree with the judgments of tribunals," Paulino Luesma, the Spanish Interior Ministry's representative in the Basque region, said in a statement.

.....

On Oct. 2, two leaders were detained in San Sebastian and two days later police cordoned off Segura and raided an alleged secret Batasuna meeting, detaining 23 purported leaders. Of those, 17 were arrested and charged with membership in an armed group.

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