Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 14:05:31
Subject: M-NEWS: Basque Country: news reports thru Dec 19, 1997


EUSKAL HERRIA JOURNAL, a publication of the Basque Congress for Peace
United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017

EHJ updated mirror site:  http://osis.ucsd.edu/~ehj
New documents available:
. Basque language history: some facts and some suggestions for private study
  by Manfred Owstrowski
. Conclusions of the International Observers in the trial against Herri
Batasuna
. International Prison Watch (OIP) 1997 reports on Spain and France (in
French)
. A project for an Statute of Autonomy for Northern Basque Country, 1945 (in
French)


NEWS REPORTS -- THROUGH DECEMBER 19, 1997

- Portugal's Supreme Court denied political asylum to Jose Luis Telletxea
- Spain began to grant "pardon" to repentant convicts
- Campaign for Internet Freedom forced to close its website
- Herri Batasuna MP on trial accused of collaboration with ETA
- Spain targets deportees: Basque deportee suspected by police in execution of
  Spanish councillor
- Spain's paramilitary Civil Guard announced "Anti-terrorism" Committee
- Three people arrested in Venezuela.  Anti-repression activists tour US and
Quebec.
- City Hall drivers in Bilbo refused to drive Spanish politicians
- Nine youths arrested in Navarre
- Spain's video broadcast in US television seen as an intrussion in judicial
process
  of extradition
- Prison Notes


PORTUGAL'S SUPREME COURT DENIED POLITICAL ASYLUM TO JOSE LUIS
TELLETXEA

DECEMBER 19. Portugal's Supreme Court rejected an appeal against the Ministry
of Interior's decision to deny political asylum to Basque refugee Jose Luis
Telletxea Maia, a Spanish daily said on Friday.  The Court ruling reproduced
the Ministry of Interior's justification of denial on grounds that human
rights are respected in Spain and no one is persecuted because of his
political ideas and there are political parties that back and promote the
"Basque cause."   Last month, the president of Portugal Jorge Sampaio promised
the Spanish government a stronger cooperation against Basque refugees
suspected of being ETA activists to prevent another court ruling rejecting an
extradition to Spain.  Jose Luis Telletxea seeked refuge in Portugal in 1993
after being persecuted by the Spanish Civil Guard.  He was arrested in Lisbon
for carrying false documents and given a prison term.  Spain's request for the
extradition of Telletxea Maia was rejected by a Portuguese court but the
Ministry of Interior denied him political asylum in October 1996. 

SPAIN BEGAN TO GRANT "PARDON" TO REPENTANT CONVICTS

DCEMBER 19.  Spain's Ministry of Justice Friday issued a communique admitting
it granted  "pardon" in August 1996 to Antonio Elorza Gorosabel, convicted for
"collaboration with an armed group." The communique was released after intense
speculations about an alleged plan between the ruling party and the main
opposition party to pardon former government officials and policemen
implicated in the GAL death-squads and those sentenced in the Filesa
corruption case by way of granting a general pardon or "indulto" that would
include ETA prisoners that reject armed struggle. After a meeting in December
9 with Prime Minister and president of the Popular Party, Jose Maria Aznar, to
offer his party's support for a tougher stance in fighting ETA, the president
of the Socialist party, Joaquin Almunia, said the government should "pardon"
ETA prisoners who reject armed struggle. Politicians accused Almunia of
seeking "pardon" for Socialists jailed for corruption and the "dirty war" in
the 1980s against Basque activists.  Almunia has publicly asked voters to
forgive convicted Socialists.  "Politically we believe we have already had to
pay for our errors," he said.   More than 14 police and senior government
officials of the former Socialist government, and a Civil Guard general, have
been formally charged in connection with the creation, funding, and activities
of the GAL death squads that killed at least 28 Basques in the mid 1980s.
Almunia has denied he's seeking pardon for  Socialists implicated in the death
squads and corruption cases.  The government denied it's considering granting
a "pardon" to ETA prisoners that reject armed struggle.  But the president of
the ruling Popular Party in three Basque provinces, Carlos Iturgaiz,  said the
government is considering to "pardon" an ETA prisoner who reportedly
infiltrated the Basque armed organization. Moreover, Europa Press on Wednesday
disclosed the news that the government of the Popular Party had pardoned a
presumed ETA collaborator, Antonio Elorza Gorosabel, in August 1996, three
months after it took office.  Antonio Elorza Gorosabel was arrested on July
16,  1982 and sentenced to 4 years in prison for collaborating with ETA. After
being sentenced, Elorza Gorosabel, who was on bail, reportedly disappeared. He
was arrested on January 16,  1996 in the
Spanish town of Badajoz and released 14 days after. The Spanish government
granted him "pardon" in August 1996. After Europa Press released the news, the
minister of  Justice, Margarita Mariscal de Gante, who requested the "pardon"
for Elorza Gorosabel, denied that someone convicted for "collaboration with an
armed group" would had been "pardoned" by the government. But the Ministry of
Justice's communique released Friday said the government "pardoned" Elorza
Gorosabel in August 1996.

CAMPAIGN FOR INTERNET FREEDOM FORCED TO CLOSE ITS WEBSITE

DECEMBER 19.  Following their decision to suspend the UK site earlier this
year, Easynet PLC has revoked Campaign for Internet Freedom's status as a
voluntary organization which has forced the UK website
<http://www.netfreedom.org/> to close.   Campaign for Internet Freedom
announced that their new sponsored UK site will be launched soon, and are
looking for web space to establish an emergency response network for censored
sites.   On September 18, Campaign for Internet Freedom said in a press
release that Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorists Squad had shut down
Internet Freedom's UK web site on grounds they were acting against terrorism.
The section the site was alleged to contain `terrorist material'--said
Campaign for Internet Freedom--related to a feature on the Euskal Herria
Journal.  Internet Freedom is one of the foremost anti-censorship campaigns in
the UK.  


HERRI BATASUNA MP ON TRIAL ACCUSED OF COLLABORATING WITH ETA

DECEMBER 19.  Herri Batasuna member of parliament Sotero Etxandi Juanicotena
is on trial accused of "collaborating with an armed group." The charges stem
from a detainee's testimony signed under duress and stating that Etxandi
Juanicotena helped her to get into France to evade Spanish police. Sotero
Etxandi Juanicotena, a member of the regional parliament of  Navarre for, was
arrested in February 1995 after a testimony of Rosario Ezquerra Perez de
Nanclares implicated him with the activities of ETA.  Ezquerra Perez de
Nanclares was arrested on charges of being a member of ETA's Bizkaia commando
and held five days in incommunidado detention.  She told a judge of the
Spanish National Court (a Diplock Court--Franco's Tribunal of Public Order
renamed) that she was forced by police to sign a testimony stating that
Etxandi Juanicotena had helped her to get into France. State prosecutors asked
that Etxandi Juanicotena be given 5 years in prison if the current Penal Code
is applied, or 6 years in prison if the Supreme Court decides to apply
Franco's Penal Code. Defence attorneys hold that the accusation against Sotero
Etxandi Juanicotena is based on a testimony obtained under duress and that he
should be dismissed.  Sotero Etxandi Juanicotena said he was tortured by
police during the time he was held  incommunicado in Madrid under "anti-
terrorist" legislation.


SPAIN TARGETS DEPORTEES: BASQUE DEPORTEE SUSPECTED BY POLICE IN EXECUTION OF
SPANISH COUNCILLOR

DECEMBER 19.  Francisco Rementeria, a Basque activist deported by Spain to
Cape Verde is suspected of having participated in the execution of the Spanish
councillor Jose Luis Caso on December 9, a Spanish daily said Friday.
Rementeria was deported to Cape verde in 1989 after peace talks between the
Spanish government and ETA failed. Spain has deported a total of 13 Basque
activists to Cape Verde. According to Spanish police, 10 Basque activists left
Cape Verde between 1995 and 1996.  Some of the refugeees are thought to have
gone to Cuba, the Spanish daily said.  Two of the Basque deportees that left
Cape Verde in 1995 were handed over to the Spanish police by France after they
joined hunger-strikers in the Baiona Cathedral (in Northen Basque Country,
under French administration) protesting the dispersion of Basque political
prisoners. According to the Spanish daily, Francisco Renteria left Cape Verde
in   January 1996 and went to Cuba where he met with Jose Miguel Bustinza,
murdered by security forces in the Basque city of Bilbo last October. Tomas
Linaza Etxebarria and Endika Iztueta Barandika, deported to Cape Verde in
1985, were granted scholarships by the Cuban government to make further
studies in medicine, the Spanish daily added.


SPAIN'S PARAMILITARY CIVIL GUARD LAUNCHED "ANTI-TERRORISM" COMMITTEE

DECEMBER 19. Spain's paramilitary Civil Guard announced in Donostia the
creation of an "Anti-Terrorism" Committee in Southern Basque Country.  Civil
Guard director Santiago Lopez Valdivieso said Friday that a Committee would
"define the anti-terrorist  strategy" of the paramilitary police and
coordinate the activities of its headquarters in the four Basque provinces of
Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Navarre, as well as its central information
services in Madrid. The Committee is composed of the director of the Civil
Guard,  a general in charge of the central Information services, a general in
charge of the Information services in Southern Basque
Country, and the chief of each one of the headquarters in the four Basque
provinces. According to Lopez Valdivieso, the Civil Guard has broken six ETA
commandos in the last 18 months, and arrested 45 presumed ETA activists of
whose 39 have been imprisoned. Lopez Valdivieso praised the cooperation of the
French police. During a Franco-Spanish meeting in Salamanca earlier this
month, French President Jacques Chirac praised "Spanish democracy" and
promised a crackdown on ETA activists in France. Chirac's pledge came after
Aznar announced his government will buy French submarines. Lopez Valdivieso
said the figth against ETA "will continue being the number one priority of the
Civil Guard" until it destroys the Basque resistance organization. The Civil
Guard was created by General Francisco Franco. 

THREE PEOPLE ARRESTED IN VENEZUELA

DECEMBER 18.  Iker Casanova, Miguel Otazu and a Venezuela journalist, Vicente
Los Arcos, were arrested in Caracas on December 7 by members of the DISIP,
Venezuela's secret service police. The reason for their arrest remains
unknown. Casanova, along with Mikel Korta and EGIN journalist Pepe Rei, were
part of a Basque delegation invited to participate in a series of seminars on
the topic "Informando sobre la desinformacion" (Informing about
misinformation) in situations of conflict held at the University of Venezuela.
On of the detainees, Miguel Otazu from Pasaia (Gipuzkoa) was visiting
Venezuela. Journalist Vicente de Los Arcos was arrested when he arrived to the
DISIP headquarters to inquire about the two Basque citizens who had been
arrested. Several human rights organizations, including Provea, denounced the
arrests which they called an attack against human rights and the right to
information. The three detainees have been released. Last year, the DISIP
arrested Basque political refugee Eugenio Barrutiagengoa by request of Spain's
National Court (a Diplock court--Franco's Tribunal of Public Order renamed)
without a request for his extradition. Barrutiagengoa was released after his
illegal arrest was reported by the press.

Two representatives from an anti-repression group in Northern Basque Country
(under French rule) are currently touring several cities in the US and Quebec
where they are giving lectures at several universities and press associations.


CITYHALL DRIVERS IN BILBO REFUSED TO DRIVE SPANISH POLITICIANS

DECEMBER 18. The eight drivers of the city hall in the Basque city of Bilbo
refused to drive the councilliors of the ruling Popular Party (PP, Partido
Popular) and
asked that private drivers be hired for the job, a Spanish newspaper reported.
The
PP asked the the City Hall of Bilbo to guarantee the security of its
councillors after Jose Luis Caso, a Popular Party councillor in the Basque
town of Orereta was shot and killed last week. The Spanish government,
political parties, and the media blamed ETA for the attack. The mood within
the Popular Party is uneasy as their councillors in three Basque provinces are
watching their backs these days convinced that ETA has its gun sights trained
firmly on them. The Spanish media said the party has become a primary target
for ETA, which has been fighting over the last 30 years for Basque self-
determination and independence. The Popular Party, founded by General Franco's
Minister of Interior, has decided to step up security for its 212 politicians
(166 are town councillors: 75 in Bizkaia; 57 in Araba; and 34 in Gipuzkoa) in
three Basque provinces and many have new bodyguards. It would cost the PP  600
million pesetas ($1 = 145 pts) to provide for the security of its  212 elected
politicians in three Basque provinces, a Spanish daily said.

NINE YOUTHS ARRESTED IN NAVARRE

DECEMBER 16. Nine youths were arrested in Navarre during rallies against the
imprisonment of the 23 Herri Batasuna leaders. Nine youths, including 5 under
age, were arrested in the city of Iru=F1ea, Navarre. The rallies were called by
the youth organization Jarrai and the student union Ikasle Abertzaleak in the
cities of Bilbo (Bizkaia), Donostia (Gipuzkoa), Gasteiz (Araba), and Iru=F1ea
(Navarre). Police in Navarre charged against hundreds of youths in Iru=F1ea and
Burlada placing barricades in the streets. Youths responded throwing stones
and other objects to the police. Several people were reported injured. In
Donostia, Gasteiz and Bilbo, hundreds of youths gathered holding banners with
the slogan `Freedom for the Basque Country.'  In Bilbo, they set up barricades
of wood and cardboard boxes in the streets and then set them on fire.


SPAIN'S VIDEO BROADCAST IN US TELEVISION SEEN AS AN INTRUSSION ON A JUDICIAL
PROCESS OF EXTRADITION

DECEMBER 12.  A video about people killed or injured by ETA attacks was
broadcast by television on December 9 in several American cities, including
Miami.  Lawyers said the broadcast of Spain's video prior to an extradition
decision by a federal judge involving a Basque refugee is an intrussion on the
judicial process.  Basque refugee Ramon Aldasoro, 41, was detained by the
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in Miami on December 2 by request of
the Spanish government.  Spain's Ministry of Interior said Aldasoro is wanted
by the National Court (a Diplock court--Franco's Tribunal of Public Order
renamed) in connection with six murders--including that of an Army
general--from 1983 to 1988.  The accusations are based on other detainees'
testimonies reportedly extracted under torture by Spain's security forces.
Spain lacks a true Judicial Police and state security forces control, develop,
and decide the investigation of people.  Spain has been working frantically
through diplomatic channels in recent months to get international cooperation
in fighting Basque dissidents.  It has distributed a video around the world
documenting ETA's campaign in hopes other governments will capture and hand
over suspected Basque activists. Ramon Aldasoro was living in the suburb of
Kendall where he worked at a local car dealership.  The FBI said he had been
living in Miami for a few years.  A federal judge ordered Aldasoro held
without bail and appointed an attorney to defend him.  A hearing was scheduled
for January 12 when an extradition decision will be made.  Interior Minister
Jaime Mayor Oreja said this is the first arrest in the US of a person wanted
in connection to ETA activities.  However, according to a Spanish daily
report,  another person was arrested in the US accused by Spain of being
connected to ETA. He hanged himself from a belt when he was being taken by
police to the San Francisco airport to be deported to Spain, said the Spanish
daily.  Ramon Aldasoro is being held in a Miami prison, the same one in which
businessman Javier Ferreiro remains after he was accused of violating the US
embargo to Cuba.

PRISON NOTES

Political prisoners in Fleury-Merogis (Paris) protested the suspension of
visits to Basque prisoner Fermin Sanchez Agurruza. Jean-Baptiste Biagi (from
Corsica), Akdemir Mehmet (from Kurdistan), and Carlos Almorza, Ernest
Arranbide and Manex Erdozaintzi (from the Basque Country) wrote a letter to
Paris judge Laurence Levert protesting against her decision to suspend the
visits of Sanchez Agurruza's partner. Judge Levert suspended the visits after
Sanchez Agurruza's partner distributed leaftlets about the situation of the
prisoners outside the Fleury-Merogis jail. Fermin Sanchez Agurruza is in
hunger-strike since November 12 to protest his imminent extradition to Spain.
He has held 3 hunger strikes since June 3.

Prisoners in Spanish jails denied visits. During the month of November,
prisoners Pili Aranburu, Maitane Sagastume and Julen Larrinaga where deprived
of their visits from relatives and friends. In Murcia, prison officials did
not allow Pili Aranburu
to see her daughters who waited hours in vain and were threatened by the chief
of
Services with reporting Aranburu. In Melilla, Julen Larrinaga was not allowed
to see his
brother-in-law who travelled to the African enclave to visit him. Friends of
Maitane
Sagastume held in Valladolid were not allowed to see the prisoner.

ENDS.========================================================