Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 18:54:25 -0800
From: IRSP <irsp-AT-netwizards.net>
Subject: M-NEWS: Arrest of Basque Political Refugee in Miami


Posters Note: Please distribute as widely as possible the following
statement from Xaki, a Basque solidarity organization, that describes the
collusion between the Spanish State and the FBI to have Ramon Aldasora
extradited from Miami.  Xaki's statement ends with a request that messages
of support and solidarity be sent to Ramon at Miami's Dentention Center
(address included).  If you would like to receive a copy of "Dirty War
Against the Basque Country" or "Special Legislation and Torture in the
Basque Country" that details conditions facing Ramon if returned to Spain,
email a mailing address to me.

____________________________

Xaki Europear Elkartea
Pedro Egana kalea 2, 1 esk
20.006 Donostia (S. Sebastian)
Gipuzkoa-Basque Country
Spanish State

Office phone no. +3443457796
Fax no. 3443474981
Email <kanpo-AT-eusnet.org>

THE RAMON ALDASORO CASE

The basque politic refugee Ramon Aldasoro, born in Otxandio, (province of
Bizkaia, Basque Country), 47 years old, whose job was electrician, was
arrested by the FBI last 1st of December of 1997, Monday, in Miami, while he
was walking down Ocean Drive.

He was arrested by policemen of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF),
directed by the FBI chief in Miami, Paul R. Philip.  As the spokesman of the
FBI said the 4th of December, the FBI arrested him under the spanish
authorities instructions via Interpol, and in close contact with the
Department of State.  He said that they received the information that the
basque refugee was there and after doing their investigations they arrested
him.

The next day, 2th of December, he was led to the Federal Court of South
Florida, presided by the judge Ted Bandstra, who named a court-appointed
counsel for him and ordered unconditional prison.  After that, Ramon
Aldasoro was taken to the Federal Dentention Center of Miami.  While that,
in Aldasoro's town Otxandio, there were demonstrations in solidarity with
their refugee neighbor.  

In words of Jaime Mayor Oreja, former spanish Minister of Interior, with the
cooperation of the FBI in the location and arrestation of this man starts a
significant international cooperation, because it's the first time that a
basque politic refugee is arrested in USA.  The 3th of December, Mayor Oreja
had a meeting with George Tenet, director of the CIA, to speak about these
questions.  The Department of State of the USA includes in its annual list
of terrorists organizations the basque independentist armed organization
ETA, instead the epithets as "rebels," "separatists" or "guerrilla" that it
used before.

The spanish government is preparing a request for Aldasoro's extradition,
according to the treaty signed by USA and the spanish state in May of 1970.
The spanish government has 45 days for sending to the Federal Court of Miami
the documents that lay the foundations of the request of extradition.
Concretly, the spanish government accuses Aldasora of being member of the
basque independentist between 1983 and 1988, as for example the killing of a
general of the spanish army in Agurain in 1988, the killing of two spanish
policemen in Gasteiz in 1988, and some attacks against spanish police
barracks in Laudio, Gasteiz, Durango, etc.  Those accusations are based in
declarations obtained by tortures in spanish police barracks.  But apart of
these general accusations by the spanish state, it hasn't been presented yet
a formal and concrete assusation in the Federal Court, what makes us think
that all these charges could be just spanish publicity.  The charges for the
request of extradition should be concrete.

In words of Anne Figueroa, spokeswoman of the FBI in Miami, Aldasoro was in
Miami since two or three years.  He lived in the middle-class district of
Kendall under a false identity, in the 9117 of the 147 street, southwest of
Miami, and he worked as Toyota cars seller.

The 12th of January, the federal judge Ted Bansdtras prolonged for 30 days
the period to consider the request of extradition, to give to Aldasoro's
lawyers the possibility of presenting a request of dismission of the case.
Moreover, he gave a period of 60 days to give a final judgement about the
request of extradition.  The spanish authorities had until the 16th of
January to present the documents of the extradition.  Some basque lawyers
have been in Miami during this time to organize the defense of Aldasoro and
they are working on that.  

Ramon Aldasoro is living in very hard living conditions in the Federal
Dentention Center in Miami.  Since he was imprisoned he's alone, isolated,
without any contact with his family; he has friends in Miami who want to
visit him, but the prison's authorities only leave seeing him to his direct
relatives, who are thousands kilometres far way from Miami in the Basque
Country in Europe.  The authorities deny to Aldasoro to phone home and speak
with his family.  He has had only the visit of the basque lawyers that went
to defend him.

As we know, the trial will be around the 10th of March.  For the moment,
there's not more information.  The address of Ramon Aldasoro is this:

Ramon Aldoasoro Magunacelaya
RN 57937004
Federal Dentention Center
PO Box 019120
Miami, Florida 33101-9120
USA

If you want to get more details about the arrestation of Aldasoro you can
read the newspaper "El Nuevo Herald" the newspaper written in spanish of
Miami.  When we would have more information, we'll send you as soon as
possible

In Euskal Herria (Basque Country), February of 1998.

North American Coordinator
Irish Republican Socialist Committees
2057 15th Street, Suite B
San Francisco, CA 94114
irsp-AT-netwiz.net
http://irsm.pair.com/irscna/