Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Lukewarm Criticism

The web site called Earth Times has published an article that contains the reaction to the Audiencia Nacional to punish Juan Mari Atutxa, Gorka Knörr and Kontxi Bilbao for refusing to disolve Sozialista Abertzaleak back in 2003.

Here you have the note:

Spanish court criticized for sentencing Basque politician

Author : DPA
Category : Legal (General)

Madrid - Spain's Supreme Court has barred a former president of the Basque regional parliament from holding public office for refusing to dissolve a radical separatist party in 2003, media reported Tuesday. Juan Maria Atutxa, as well as two former vice-presidents of the regional parliament, Gorka Knorr and Kontxi Bilbao, were barred from holding public office for two years and ordered to pay fines of up to 108,000 euros (156,000 dollars).

The three were charged with refusing to dissolve Sozialista Abertzaleak, a successor of Batasuna, regarded as the political wing of the Basque separatist militant group ETA, in the regional parliament after Batasuna was outlawed.

The court's decision will most affect Bilbao, who remains in the Basque parliament while Atutxa and Knorr have retired from active politics.

Atutxa's moderate Basque Nationalist Party PNV, which governs the region, as well as the far-left Izquierda Unida and Basque Socialists on Tuesday criticized the court's decision as politically motivated or incorrect.

A different criterion was applied to the Basques than to banker Emilio Botin, a complaint against whom was rejected because charges had not been filed by prosecutors in addition to a private party, as was the case with the Basque politicians as well, critics argued.

The Spanish judiciary is now widely expected to ban the ANV and PCTV-EHAK, two parties which have emerged as the new successors of Batasuna, to prevent them from contesting the March 9 general elections.


The problem being, Spain is yet to prove that Batasuna is ETA's political arm, years have gone by and the Audiencia Nacional has not presented any evidence to support their bogus claim. So, if Batasuna has not been taken to court how can Sozialista Abertzaleak by guilty?

And therefore, how can Atutxa, Knörr and Bilbao be guilty too?

Spain's justice system is weirder than the Twilight Zone.



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