Benat Won't Be Extradited

Good news from Ireland, Benat will not be extradited according to this entry at Ógra Shinn Féin's blog:

Ógra Shinn Fein welcomes Belfast court decision

Ógra Shinn Féin have welcomed a Belfast court decision which has thrown out a case against Belfast based Basque Arturo Villanueva Arteaga (Benat) seeking his extradition.

The Spanish was seeking Benat due to his alleged membership of pro independence Basque youth group, Jarrai. The judge said that there was lack of specific details about attendance at meetings, interviews or other evidence that Mr Arteaga was in Jarrai.

Jarrai were deemed ‘illegal’ by the Spanish Supreme court in 2005 and deemed ‘terrorist‘ in 2007, as was the current pro independence youth movement, Segi.

Although the warrant claimed the wanted man carried out violent and coercive actions from 1994 to 2000, Judge Burgess held there was no reference to dates, locations or targets of any alleged attacks which would allow anyone to link them to him.

The warrant claimed that Benat had been a member of Jarrai in 2000, yet it wasn’t until 2005 that it was deemed ‘illegal’.

Explaining his case, Benat said that he had always worked "politically, peacefully and publicly" in defence of Basque rights, and he criticised the way the Spanish dealt with these kind of political cases, which is not the right way and breach any kind of principles.

"Not just myself, but many different lawyers and international bodies, year after year, have been calling attention to the Spanish authorities to improve on matters of human rights and judicial rights for any legal cases relating to the Basque conflict."

Continues...

We are gland to learn that this time Madrid has seen its plans to silence another Basque voice foiled by the Irish justice.

.... ... .

Solidarity and Remebrance in Uruguay

Leftist NGOs and human rights organizations from Uruguay commemorated the XV anniversary of the government's repressive operations at the Filtro Hospital where a young man was killed by police officers when they charged against demonstrators that gathered at the health facility to support the Basque political refugees on hunger strike to protest the extradition process demanded by the Spanish State.

On an effort to gain economic favors from the fascist regime in Madrid, the Uruguayan government decided to mercilessly repress its own people.

Since then, every year, on August 24th the NGO "Plenaria Memoria y Justicia" calls for Uruguayans to publicly demonstrate "against impunity" and "against sponging the past", also, to show their support for the "independence of the Basque Country and the right to self-determination of the peoples", said Irma Leytes, the spokesperson for the NGO.

Pseudo-reporters embedded in different mass media corporations on Madrid's paycheck tried to pin the whole thing on support for ETA as they usually do when they find people that sees through the web of lies and deception created by Paris and Madrid to deny the Basque people the right to decide their own future. But Irma Leytes did not allow them to mar the demonstration and reminded them that they do not have to pronounce themselves regarding ETA since the NGO Plenaria Memoria y Justicia does not "question the methodology chosen" by other groups. Leytes pointed out that on today's demonstration they counted with the presence of members of Askapena, the internationalist Basque association.

The events at the Hospital Filtro in Montevideo, that this electoral year in Urugay have become a controversial element of dispute among the political parties, took place on August 24th of 1994. The public demonstrations against the extradition of three Basque political refugees lasted for a number of days and were backed by the leftist coalition Frente Amplio, the current ruling party in Urugay. On the eve of the extradition of the three Basques, scheduled for August 25th, the police decided to unleash a violent repression against hundred of demonstrators, murdering Fernando Morroni a wounding dozens.

According to Leytes, one of the goals of the demonstration is to "put forward the need that former President Luis Alberto Lacalle does not continue to enjoy impunity over this case". Lacalle, the candidate for the opposition's Partido Nacional for the electoral process on October 25th was the President at the time of the Hospital Filtro massacre.

There will be remembrance acts in different locations in Euskal Herria as an effort by Basque society to honor those who have given their lives to protect the human and civil rights of the Basque political refugees.

.... ... .

Julen Arzuaga in Belfast

This article was published at Barcelona Reporter:

On Saturday August the 8th, Basque Conference Held in Belfast

Julen Arzuaga, a lawyer from Behatokia, the Basque Observatory of Human Rights, travelled to Belfast from the Basque Country to speak at the conference, present at the conference were Iñaki de Juana and Arturo Beñat Villanueva, two Basque activists who are fighting extradition charges by the Spanish government. The firm of attorneys who are representing both men, gave a progress report on its efforts to defeat the extradition charges.

There were more than 100 people present at the conference on political persecution in the Basque Country on Saturday August 8 in An Chultúrlann in west Belfast, organised by the Don't Extradite the Basques Campaign as part of the annual Féile an Phobail.

Veteran republican activist Danny Morrison introduced the conference and in a speech compared the Spanish government's persecution of the Basque pro-independence movement with the experience of Irish republicans over several decades, and went on to say "The best way this community can show our solidarity with the Basque people's struggle for their human and national rights in this period of severe repression by the Spanish government is by making sure that these vindictive extradition attempts are defeated."

.... ... .

Cross-Border Civil Rights' Violations

Judge Baltasar Garzón incarcerated Basque political refugee Juan Manuel Intziarte who has detained by police at Madrid's Barajas airport after being expelled from Mexico. Itziarte's forced departure from the North American country, according to leaked information, was preceded by unusual circumstances, being that his detention began due to an "anonymous tip" that claimed that the presence of the Basque political refugee was "irregular". After the case of the six Basque political refugees extradited by former president Vicente Fox in which the Mexican citizenry took the streets in support of the prisoners the Mexican has resorted to expelling the Basque citizens requested by Madrid to avoid another sticky situation that may again highlight the human and civil rights' violations that have to be in place to achieve an extradition since the Mexican Constitution forbid extraditions to countries that practice torture and summary executions, like Spain.

With a complete different outcome, another Basque political refugee, in this case in Venezuela, this very same week faced the possibility of being extradited to the Spanish State. Eventually, Iñaki Etxeberria was released at dawn on Friday after the Supreme Court in the South American country found no elements to support his extradition. The "unusual" circumstances" were also present in this case as denounced by Etxeberria himself. He was illegally questioned by the Interpol, there was unjustified delays for his release and he even witnessed the visit of the very Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos. This chain of events made him fear for a negative outcome to his situation, that fortunately, did not come through.

Both cases are evidence of the unflinching efforts by the Spanish regime to bully sovereign states into violating international law regarding the figure of political asylum. That legal frame was seriously damaged by the offensive initiated by the US administration after the 9-11 attacks in the so called "war on terrorism", an offensive that counted with the enthusiastic support of many other states, among them, for obvious reasons, the Spanish state. But time has proved the complete and utter failures of this strategy that violates human rights as a cover up for more devious goals and, more so, its slow but unstoppable lack of support within the international community. A reality that the Spanish state rebuffs obsessed in extending it policy of suppressing the civil liberties beyond its own borders.

.... ... .

Caracas to Free Iñaki Etxebarria

Great news, Hugo Chavez was unable to exchange Basque political refugee Iñaki Etxeberria over an oil profit deal with Madrid according to this note published at Venezuelanalysis:

Venezuela Denies Extradition of Basque Nationalist to Spain

James Suggett

Mérida, August 5th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- On Tuesday evening Venezuela's Supreme Court (TSJ) denied Spain's request for the extradition of a presumed former member of the Basque independence organization ETA, Iñaki Etxeberria.

Spain charged Etxeberria with attempted homicide during an incident in Spain in 1993. On Tuesday, the TSJ ruled the extradition impermissible because the prescripted period in which to try Etxeberria for the crime had expired, according to Venezuelan law.

Etxeberria is a legal permanent resident of Venezuela who has lived in Venezuela for 13 years, having fled what he and his supporters say was political persecution of Basque leaders by the Spanish government. He currently works in a steel factory in Cojedes state.

Venezuela's national investigative police, the CICPC, arrested Etxeberria in late April, fulfilling an order by the international criminal police organization, INTERPOL.

Official police reports say Etxeberria was arrested in Carabobo state on April 25th, the day he first appeared in court. However, his defense lawyers say he was arrested on April 21st in Cojedes state and effectively "disappeared" for four days.

On June 30th, an investigator from the Attorney General's Office argued before the TSJ that Etxeberria's arrest was illegal, and that the charge against him contained factual contradictions and legal irregularities.

Following the investigator's argument, a TSJ decision was expected within 10 days, but the decision was delayed for more than a month. Marco Rodríguez, a defense lawyer for Etxeberria, accused some TSJ judges of "seeking ways to turn him over to Madrid," beyond the official charges. Meanwhile, Etxeberria was held in police custody for more than 100 days until his release on Tuesday.

Etxeberria's defense lawyers called for an investigation of the police who arrested Etxeberria to probe for possible violations of the activist's rights.

Last month, Canada extradited another Basque nationalist, Jose Joaquin Oleaga, who was charged with the same crime as Etxeberria. Soon after, a Spanish court absolved Oleaga and dropped the charges.

Venezuela has previously extradited two presumed ETA militants in 2002. Juan Víctor Galarza Mendiola and Sebastián Etxaniz Alkorta were deported and later jailed in Spain.

According to the Caracas-based Committee for the Liberation of Iñaki Etxeberria, a coalition of more than fifty Venezuelan revolutionary organizations, the TSJ's decision is a victory for the revolutionary forces over the "right wing that disguises itself as pro-Chavez" within the socialist Bolivarian revolution led by President Hugo Chávez.

Over the past month, the Committee held demonstrations and wrote letters urging the denial of Etxeberria's extradition to Internal Affairs and Justice Minister Tarek El-Aissami, National Assembly President Cilia Flores, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez, and top leaders of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, but received no reply.

The Committee, which includes distinct leftist organizations such as Marea Socialista, C-CURA, the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator, and the political studies department at Venezuela's Bolivarian University, says the government should provide refuge for Etxeberria out of solidarity with the cause of Basque independence, not just because "Bourgeois laws" rule extradition impermissible.

"Beyond this bourgeois legality, we should pressure our government to address these problems in a revolutionary manner," Committee spokesperson Susana Gonzalez told Venezuelanalysis.com. "Someone who struggles for the liberation of his people from two terrorist states like Spain and France should not be criminalized by any revolutionary in the world."

More than 5,000 Basques have been tortured over the last three decades and hundreds remain under arbitrary arrest on suspicion of being ETA militants, according to the Committee.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission has repeatedly reprimanded Spain for the use of torture and preventative detention under the auspices of domestic anti-terrorism laws, and for failing to turn in human rights reports to the U.N. that are mandatory for signatories of the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights.

The Spanish government considers ETA a terrorist organization and blamed the group, which is a clandestine movement as well as a public political party, for the bombing of a Spanish Civil Guard barrack last week. The Venezuelan Foreign Relations Ministry and Chavez himself publicly condemned what it called the "terrorist" attacks.

The attacks came while Venezuelan and Spanish officials and business executives were meeting in Caracas to arrange joint energy production and finalize details in the indemnity payments for the nationalized Bank of Venezuela.

Maybe one day Hugo Chavez will tell the world why he hates the Basques so much. Then we will remind him that his beloved Simon Bolivar was a Basque and how much the Spaniads loath his memory.

.... ... .

Solidarity With Etxeberria in Venezuela

This article was published at VHeadline:

AD thugs attack solidarity with the Basques activists outside Supreme Court

Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Solidarity with The Basque People has organized another rally in front of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) in Caracas protesting against the possible extradition of Inaki Etxeberria to Spain.

According to a spokesperson, Etxeberria has been living legally in Venezuela for more than 12 years and the group accuses the State of illegally arresting Inaki in Valencia, Carabobo on April 21.

According to Venezuelan law, the case should have been declared proscribed because of the 15 years and four months that had passed since Etxeberria was charged in Spain for assassination.

The arrest warrant issued by Interpol, the spokesperson adds, contains contradictions in stating the actual terms surrounding charges.

The TSJ has not ruled on the matter, a spokesman comments, despite the fact that the Attorney General has declared that the case does not merit extradition.

However, it emerges that the protesters were attacked by opposition sectors that turned up outside the building accompanying Metropolitan Mayor Antonio Ledezma and opposition hardliner, Oscar Perez.

According to a report published by Aporrea.org, those supporting the Basque revolutionary were attacked with sticks and fists by Accion Democratica (AD) thugs.

Organizers complain that the Metropolitan Police (PM) not only failed to provide any protection, even though the anti-extradition group was there first but also forced them aside with tear gas to allow Ledezma, Perez and followers through to the TSJ building.

.... ... .

Campaign Against Extradition of Basque Activists

This article was published at An Phoblacht:

Don't Extradite the Basques Campaign launched

Emma Clancy

The Don’t Extradite the Basques Campaign was formally launched on Wednesday 10 June against the extradition to Spain of Belfast-based Basque pro-independence activists Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva at a press conference in An Chultúrlann.

Civil rights activist Fearghas Ó hÍr outlined the campaign on behalf of the committee, joined by a range of supporters including prominent human rights defenders and community activists, aiming to demonstrate the broad support for the human and civil rights of the Basque people from across the Belfast community.

An online petition against the extraditions was also launched at the press conference. Initial signatories to this petition include Fearghas Ó hÍr, human rights lawyer Pádraigín Drinan, Eamon McCann (NUJ National Executive), Gerry McConville (Chair, West Belfast Partnership Board) and Michael Culbert (former Antrim and St Gall’s Football Manager).

Iñaki de Juana

Speaking on behalf of the campaign, Fearghas Ó hÍr said: “The Spanish authorities are trying to extradite Iñaki de Juana, who served 21 years in Spanish jails, from Belfast, where he moved immediately after his release in August last year, to face questioning related to charges of ‘glorifying terrorism’.

“The arrest warrant is based on somebody at a rally in Donostia in August, which was celebrating Iñaki’s release from prison, reading a letter that used the popular Basque expression ‘Aurrera bolie’ (‘Kick the ball forward’). The Spanish authorities claim this phrase constitutes a call for the continuation of armed struggle.

“Iñaki was not present at this rally and denies writing such a letter, which Spanish police admit they cannot produce. There is no evidence that this comment was Iñaki’s or that it somehow constitutes a terrorist offence.

“There has been a virulent and sustained hate campaign against Iñaki by the Spanish media for many years, and Spain’s former justice minister has previously publicly called for the judges to ‘construct new charges’ against Iñaki to ‘keep him in jail’,” Ó hÍr explained.

“It is very clear that behind the warrant for ‘questioning’ issued by Spain is the agenda of putting Iñaki back in prison, despite the fact that these new charges are baseless.”

Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva

Ó hÍr then outlined the case of Basque youth activist Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva, who was arrested in March 2001 by the Spanish police, with 15 other young pro-independence activists, and was accused of being a member of Basque pro-independence socialist youth organisation Jarrai.

“While Jarrai is a solely political organisation, it was declared illegal by the Spanish authorities in 2005 and categorised as a “terrorist” organisation by Spain’s Supreme Court in 2007,” Ó hÍr explained.

“Charged with ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’, Beñat faced a possible 14-year jail sentence for his political activism. Released on bail after 10 months in prison, he did not attend what many believed to be a political show trial.

“In 2004, Beñat decided to seek refuge in Belfast from Spanish political persecution and the risk of torture.

“At the time of Beñat’s alleged membership of Jarrai (1994-2000), the organisation was legal. The Spanish court is applying the law that criminalised Jarrai retrospectively.

“Beñat is being targeted by the Spanish authorities for carrying out political, public and peaceful youth work in the Basque Country. His only ‘crime’ has been his political ideas in favour of Basque independence and socialism,” Ó hÍr said.

Political persecution

“In its effort to prevent the Basque people from exercising their democratic right to self-determination, Spain is breaching several fundamental rights as outlined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, of peaceful assembly and association, the right to take part in the government of their state and the right not to be subjected to torture or abuse,” Ó hÍr said.

“Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva are clearly being persecuted solely for their political opinions, not for any criminal activity. We believe that there is a serious danger that they will not receive a fair hearing within the Spanish judicial system and face the risk of torture.

Mr Ó hÍr continued: “These extradition requests are politically unacceptable and we are calling on all those who support basic civil rights to sign the petition against the extraditions.”

The campaign petition demands that the Spanish government respects the fundamental human, civil and political rights of the Basque people as laid out in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and that it ends its campaign of criminalisation against the Basque pro-independence movement.

The petition supports the human right of de Juana and Villanueva not to be persecuted by the Spanish government for their political opinions.

It calls on the British government to immediately reject the extradition requests and to refuse to collaborate with the Spanish government in this political persecution.

Finally, the petition supports the right of de Juana and Villanueva to live freely in Ireland.

To sign the petition visit www.dontextraditethebasques.org

Once again, thanks to our Irish friends for their solidarity and support.

.... ... .

A Petition to Stop Extraditions in Ireland

We received this information regarding an internet based campaign demanding to stop the extradition of Basque political refugees living in Ireland:

Sign The Campaign Petition!

* We, the undersigned, demand that the Spanish government respects the fundamental human, civil and political rights of the Basque people as laid out in the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

* We demand that the Spanish government ends its campaign of criminalisation and political persecution against organisations and individuals that are in favour of Basque independence.

* We support the right of Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva not to be persecuted by the Spanish government for their political ideas.

* We call on the British government to immediately reject the extradition requests and to refuse to collaborate with the Spanish government’s political persecution of Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva.

* We support the right of Iñaki de Juana and Arturo ‘Beñat’ Villanueva to live freely in Ireland.

Show your support for Iñaki and Beñat and sign this petition here.

.... ... .

Ireland : Stop Extraditions

Thanks to our friends at the Irish Basque Committees for sending us this information:

Two Belfast-based Basque citizens, Iñaki de Juana and Arturo “Beñat” Villanueva, are facing extradition to Spain because of their political pro-independence ideas.

Please come and support them on Wednesday 13th of May at 9.45am at Laganside Court buildings, Belfast.

On Thursday 14th of May at 6pm a public meeting will be held in An Chultúrlann to set a campaign against the extraditions.

PLEASE PASS ON.

Stop Spanish political persecution against the Basque Country

And don't forget to visit this page:

Don't Extradite The Basques

.... ... .

Another Extradition Case in Ireland

Spain is increasing its persecution campaign against Basque activists in Ireland. With the extradition trial against Iñaki de Juana still going on now we learn about another detention thanks to this article published at An Phoblacht:

Basque youth activist to fight extradition from Belfast

Emma Clancy

Basque activist Arturo Villanueva Arteaga (32), who has lived in west Belfast for four years, was arrested in a raid on 21 April under a European warrant issued by the Spanish authorities who are seeking his extradition to Spain on “terrorism” charges.

Villanueva, who is well-known in the west Belfast community and has been running a tourism business providing tours to European tourists, has said he will fight the extradition attempt. He was released on bail under conditions of reporting to police daily and living under a 9pm curfew, with the extradition hearing to begin on May 13.

The Belfast Basque Committee protested against the extradition attempt outside the court, calling for the case to be dropped. A spokesperson said: “Arturo has been living openly in Belfast for four years and has a life here.

“We are calling for the immediate dropping of this case and an end to the repression of Basque civil society.”

The charges relate to the pro-independence Basque youth organisation Segi, which was made illegal in 2001 and declared a “terrorist” organisation by the Spanish Supreme Court in 2007. If the extradition is successful Villanueva faces up to 14 years in prison.

In 2001, following the banning of Segi, Villanueva was among 17 young people charged with being a member of the group. Segi, an independent socialist youth organisation with thousands of members, organised political campaigns around the right to Basque self-determination as well as social and economic issues that affect youth.

Released on bail, he did not attend the political show trial. In 2005 Spanish prosecutors called for Villanueva to be sentenced to 14 years in prison in his absence.
Segi’s proscription by the Spanish government was part of the state’s long-standing policy of criminalising virtually all political parties, media sources and civil society groups that are in favour of Basque self-determination – and jailing the leaders and members of those organisations.

In December UN human rights special rapporteur Martin Scheinin said Spain’s Law of Political Parties defined “terrorism” so vaguely that it “might be interpreted to include any political party which through peaceful political means seeks similar political objectives” as those pursued by armed organisations.

Villanueva’s arrest comes after the Belfast Recorder’s Court in March ruled in favour of a Spanish extradition request for former Basque prisoner Iñaki de Juana Chaos to face charges of “glorifying terrorism”. De Juana is appealing the ruling on May 15.

The Basque Committee is urging the local community to oppose the targeting of Belfast’s Basque community by the Spanish authorities and to support Villanueva and de Juana in their fight against extradition.

Once again we thank our Irish brothers and sisters who support our quest for self determination.

.... ... .

Arrests of Refugees and Dispersal

We received this text from our friends at the Irish Basque Committees:

Basque political refugees arrested in Belfast and Venezuela

At the request of the Spanish authorities Arturo “Benat” Villanueva was arrested last Wednesday by the Extraditions Team of the PSNI. The arrest happened at 8am at his home. The PSNI officers involved in the arrest were correct throughout the arrest and the custody at the Musgrave barracks.

40 people supported Benat inside and outside the Court buildings. After a hearing before Judge Burgess and having previously agreed with both the Crown prosecution and the PSNI Benat was released on a £5000 bail, curfew at home from 9pm to 7am, he has to remain within the six counties and has to sign at a barracks every day once. A full hearing will be held on the 13th of May at the Lagan Court in Belfast.

As we’ve reported many times Benat’s case is not an isolated one, it’s part of a broader pattern of repression against the Basque Country . Over the last decade newspapers, political parties, youth groups, cultural associations...have been banned and their members arrested.

Benat has been living and working openly in Belfast for the past 5 and half years. He said: “I’ve made this country my home, made many great friends and become a proud part of a very strong community. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everybody for the welcome and support they’ve extended to myself and the Basque people over the years.”

Between Tuesday and Wednesday Basque political refugee Inaki Etxeberria was arrested in Venezuela. Very little information has come out surrounding this arrest.

The Basque pro-independence movement spoke out against the arrests and branded them as political and reflection of the overall political situation of repression in the Basque Country. The pro-independence movement asked other governments not to follow the Spanish authorities estrategy. Finally expressed their solidarity with the arrested and thanked those in Ireland, Venezuela and the rest of the world who have welcomed and supported Basque refugees along the years.

The Belfast Basque Solidarity Committee has stated that the arrest of a member of the Basque community , living in Belfast, is yet more evidence of the Spanish authorities attack on Basque Civil society.

Speaking on Wednesday a spokesperson for the group, Kevin Morrison, said:

“The arrest of a member of the Basque community, living in Belfast, Arturo “Benat” Villanueva, is yet more evidence of the continuation of attacks by the Spanish government on Basque civil society.

“The extradition warrant issued by the Spanish authorities is accusing Arturo Villanueva of membership of Segi, a youth organization banned in 2005 in a series of draconian clampdowns on Basque cultural and societal organizations.

“Since then newspapers and radio stations have been closed, human rights groups have been banned, and Batasuna, the Basque pro-independence party has been proscribed and its leadership arrested and imprisoned. All of these are blatant infringements of basic human rights and the freedom of speech within the European Union.

“This attitude of the Spanish government has recently been described by UN Rapporteur, Martin Scheinin as ‘too broad’ targeting ‘groups that have nothing to do with violence’.

“Benat has been living openly in Belfast for over five years and now has a life here.. We are a calling for immediate dropping of this case and an overall end to such repression of Basque civil society.”

20 years of dispersal policy

The EPPK/Basque Political Prisoners Collective released a statement on the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the dispersal policy by the Spanish government followed after by the French authorities. Since 1989 hundreds of Basque prisoners have been scattered in dozens of prisons across Spain and France. Nowadays 765 Basque political prisoners are imprisoned in 85 jails.

In the statement the EPPK says they won’t allow to be used to damage the Basque National Liberation Movement. They called upon Basque society to continue working against the dispersal policy.

The EPPK goes on to ask the French and Spanish government to take the prisons policies out of the confrontation lines and take the path of common sense.

.... ... .

Irish Judge Pleases Spain

On a dramatic flip flop, an Irish judge has decided to please a country that violates a number of human rights on a daily basis by allowing the extradition of Basque political refugee Iñaki de Juana according to this article published at An Phoblacht:

Court backs Basque activist's extradition

BELFAST Recorder’s Court ruled on 9 March that Basque nationalist Iñaki de Juana Chaos is eligible for extradition to Spain. He has been paroled until May when he will appeal the decision at a further hearing.

A European arrest warrant for de Juana Chaos was issued by the Spanish authorities to the PSNI in November. The Belfast court has since then discussed the legal issues surrounding the warrant, ruling last week that the charges alleged in the warrant of “glorifying terrorism” constitute an extraditable offence.

De Juana Chaos spent 21 years in Spanish jails for his role in ETA (Basque Homeland and Freedom) armed attacks during the 1980s. He moved to Ireland after he was released in August last year.

The Spanish warrant alleges that, on the day of his release, he gave a woman a letter to be read out in his name at a rally in Donostia in Euskal Herria (the Basque Country), that allegedly “publicly justified terrorism”.

But the Spanish authorities admit they do not have this letter and de Juana Chaos’s defence lawyer stated in court his client did not authorise anyone to speak on his behalf. The comment allegedly read out at the rally was “Aurrera bolie” – a Basque expression meaning “Kick the ball forward.”

The Spanish Government is basing its legal effort to extradite de Juana Chaos on somebody at a rally in Donostia saying “Kick the ball forward” without any evidence that the comment was de Juana Chaos’s or that it somehow constitutes a terrorist offence.

This relentless harassment of de Juana Chaos by the Spanish courts is not surprising in the context of the current ramped-up repression in the Basque Country, where several nationalist parties and candidates were banned from participating in the 1 March elections and where more than 700 pro-independence political activists are being held prisoner.

The Belfast judge accepted the advice of the Spanish authorities that the phrase “Kick the ball forward” constitues “praising terrorism” and that this offence has a legal equivalent under the British Terrorism Act 2006.

De Juana Chaos’s lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, said he would contest the move on human rights and procedural grounds.

This judge is going against the Irish solidarity towards the Basque right to self determination, we wonder if there was some euros involved in his decision.

.... ... .

Canada Overlooks Spain's Torture

Canadian authorities are so obsessed with Spain's demand to extradite a Basque activist that they are willing to overlook the fact that the evidence provided in the case was extracted under torture according to this article published at The Record:

Interview tactics questioned at deportation hearing

Jonathan Montpetit

Canadian immigration officials are being accused of resorting to evidence gathered under torture to try to deport a suspected Basque terrorist.

Ivan Apaolaza Sancho claims that Ottawa's case against him relies partly on information gleaned from an interrogation where Spanish police were accused of roughing up a suspect.

"She made some declarations to the police and after this woman said she was tortured,'' Sancho said in an interview from a Montreal detention centre. "But the Canadian government didn't show it like that.''

Sancho was arrested by the RCMP last summer on an immigration warrant. Ottawa is seeking to deport him to Spain, where he is thought to be linked to the violent Basque separatist group ETA.

Government immigration lawyers are basing their case on a Spanish arrest warrant that ties Sancho to a series of car bombings in Spain between 1999 and 2000.

According to Sancho's legal team, that warrant contains statements made by Ana Belen Egues Gurruchaga, who was arrested by Spanish police in November 2001 following a Madrid car bombing. She was detained under Spanish anti-terror laws that allow suspects to be held incommunicado for up to five days.

Sancho's lawyer, William Sloan, said Gurruchaga filed a criminal complaint with a Spanish court not long after she was released alleging she was tortured.

"The facts point to these declarations having been obtained by torture,'' he said. "They match word for word the warrants that Canada is using as evidence.''

Calls to Canadian immigration officials were not returned.

Sloan plans to call a French jurist to testify during Sancho's deportation hearing that Spanish justice officials often resort to aggressive interview tactics.

He charged there is scant evidence to support Ottawa's deportation order.

The government's case rests largely on a fingerprint of Sancho's that was allegedly found alongside explosives in a Spanish apartment.

The government has also produced intelligence reports that link Sancho to ETA from as early as 1991.

Sancho has acknowledged using at least two different names since he arrived in Canada. He also told an earlier deportation hearing that he initially roomed with Victor Tejedor Bilbao, who is also accused of ties with ETA.

"I was scared they were going to send me back to Spain and arrest me there and torture me,'' he said, explaining the use of an alias.

After several years of relative calm, ETA declared a formal end to its cease-fire in June 2007, around the time Sancho was arrested. Since then, ETA has carried out more than a dozen bombings and assassinated two police officers.

The hearing resumes tomorrow.

Canada is showing an unusual disrespect towards human rights. Everything and anything counts against the Basques.

.... ... .

The Josu Lariz Case

As you may know by now, Spain is trying to export its repressive strategy against the Basque people all over the world. Well, according to this report by Behatokia seems like for once, they've failed:

ARGENTINE JUDGE REFUSES TO EXTRADITE JOSU LARIZ IRIONDO

On 17 June 2004, Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio refused extradition for José Lariz Iriondo, a Basque political exile being held in Argentina. After depositing bail of 10,000 Argentine pesos, Josu regained his freedom provisionally, as there is the possibility that the prosecutor will appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice.

The extradition request made by the Spanish authorities was based upon events that took place at the beginning of the eighties and which, as was proven in the trial had prescribed. Nevertheless, the proceedings turned into a trial of the Spanish state and the lack of guarantees for Basque citizens linked in various ways to the Basque political conflict. The testimonies given by the witnesses for the defence, people with widely acknowledged prestige, were especially relevant. They denounced the conditions in which Basque political prisoners live in Spanish jails, as well as the rights violations being suffered by the Basque people. Among these witnesses, we could underline the Argentine Nobel Peace Prize, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; the president of the American Jurist Association, Beniusz Smucler; the Chief Editor of Resumen Latinoamericano, Carlos Aznarez; and Herman Schiller, from the Jewish Movement for Human Rights. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture sent a letter to the court in order to explain his appraisal of the situation of torture in the Spanish state.

Josu is currently trying to regularise his personal situation in Argentina and to obtain political refuge.

.... ... .