March in Support of 18/98 Victims

With its own pro-Madrid style, The Herald Tribune published an article about the demonstration to support the victims of Baltasar Garzon's judicial travesty known as the Macro-process 18/98.

Here you have the note:

Thousands march in Spain's Basque region to protest arrests
The Associated Press
Published: December 2, 2007

MADRID, Spain: Thousands of protesters held a rally in the northern Basque city of Bilbao Sunday to protest the arrest of people for lending support to the Basque separatist group ETA.

Several thousand protesters marched carrying placards reading "In favor of the Basque Country's democratic rights."

Spanish police on Friday began detaining 56 Basques who went on trial in November 2005, were convicted of indirectly aiding ETA, and then released on bail pending sentencing.

Those convicted were judged to have aided the armed Basque separatist group ETA through a network of outwardly legitimate social and political organizations.

Police began the roundup to avoid the possibility of those convicted fleeing Spain before they were sentenced, officials said. Up to 37 people have been arrested, lawyer Jone Goirizelaia told reporters.

The case ended in March. Judges are expected to begin meting out sentences later this month.

The trial stemmed from an eight-year inquiry by Baltasar Garzon, Spain's leading anti-terror investigator.

Garzon argued that ETA was not made up solely of armed commandos but was supported through political, financial and media organizations.

The defendants were accused of belonging to these groups, some of which had been outlawed previously.

The organizations, such as the banned youth groups Ekin and KAS, engaged in activities ranging from fundraising and helping ETA plan attacks to organizing street violence by separatist supporters, Garzon charged.

The rally went ahead despite the death Saturday of Raul Centeno, a 24-year-old member of the Civil Guard and the serious injury of his colleague, Fernando Trapero, 23, in a shooting in France blamed on ETA.

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