The expected “honeymoon” of the Txapote and Amaia couple which would allow the law which reduces the sentences of 44 members of ETA

No one has ever regretted what happened, but thanks to the bill promoted by the Government and which arrives in the Senate this Tuesday, Txapote And Amaïa They would see each other outside of prison in a little over a year. a year and a half.

In the 90s, both were part of the Donosti Command, one of the most reluctant to abandon violence. They rejected the possibility of an open truce after Estella’s political pact in 1998 and, during these years, they extended their objectives to politicians from the PP and PSOE.

Both also participated in the assassination of the socialist Fernando Mugica or the PP advisor José Ignacio Iruretagoyena. Txapote And Amaïa They were two of the bloodiest ETA members of the time, until their arrest in France at the turn of the century. To him in 2001 and to her in 2005.

They heard their last sentence just a few months ago in the National Court, when they were sentenced to 110 years in prison each for the murder of the PP councilor in Errenteria. Manuel Zamarreño in 1998.

However, due to the legal maximum prison sentence, Xabier García Gaztelu was due to be released in 2031 and Irantzu Gallastegi Sodupe, in 2032. Both have two children in common and have been sharing a prison in the world for just over a year. modern. Zaballa Prison (Álava), where they have a swimming pool, gym or library.

Each in a module, there they can already coincide. But if they manage to calculate the sentences they have already served in France, as provided for in the law which could be passed soon, they would soon be back. together in the street.

Txapote I would disregard six years and nine months and it would come out in only six months; has Amaïa He would still have six years and three months left, so would be released in 2026.

All this would be allowed by the modification of Organic Law 7/2014, which was approved in Congress on September 18 and which now cannot be amended in the Senate because it was processed by the Ministry of Justice for the way of emergency, as he advanced The confidential. The PP voted for it in Congress and Vox abstained, unaware that the reform had a trap.

The popular parties managed to postpone the vote, initially scheduled for Tuesday in the Senate, by removing it from the agenda. However, the Upper House only has one week of margin, it is expected to make its decision on October 14 and it is not expected that it can be changed. The PP’s strategy involves the government withdrawing the law.

The regulation in question transposes a European directive relating to the exchange of criminal information between EU countries. But before his vote in Congress, Sumar amended two articles and removed a single additional provision to allow for the prison period ETA members spent in France. calculated in your sentence total.

Until now, this was not the case. In 2014, the government of Mariano Rajoy approved this rule aimed at delaying the release of ETA prisoners as much as possible, so that they must serve their entire sentence in Spain even if they have already spent a period in prison in France. Today, this provision is in decline, thus responding to one of Bildu’s historic demands.

The result is that 44 ETA prisoners will have their sentences reduced by a total of 133 years oldaccording to a report from the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT). And among these 44, 12 can be immediately releasedafter serving his entire sentence.

Murderers on the loose

Juan Ramon Carasatorrealso known as Shoeis one of those who will immediately take to the streets. In 1995, he and Txapote They obeyed the orders of the ETA member Valentin Lasarte to shoot down the president of the PP in Gipuzkoa while he was eating, Gregorio Ordonez.

Shoe He spent almost 12 years in prison in France and, although he was now serving his sentence in Pamplona, ​​he did not expect to be released until 2034. With the reduction of the French period, he will suddenly gain a dozen years in Spain. and will be automatically released.

Felix Alberto Lopez de la Calle, Mobutuis the person who has spent the longest time in prison in France. In total, 23 years and one month, according to AVT data.

It was the time when Spain was fighting with France to have ETA members transferred to our country’s prisons. And for example, in 2005, a Paris appeals court refused his extradition, ruling that the assassination of three civil guards in the 1980s was over.

Eventually, he returned to Spain and the National Court managed to sentence him to 81 years in prison for the same attack. However, he was due to be released in 2036, but with the new rule he could already find himself on the streets.

Another of them is José María Arregipseudonym Fitipaldi. Behind him there are dozens of deaths, as he was responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks by the terrorist group ETA, such as that of Hypercor in Barcelona in 1987 or that of Zaragoza Barracks that same year.

Fitipaldione of the oldest ETA detainees (78 years old) spent eight years and seven months in prison in France. Now he appreciated third yearwhile waiting to fully serve his sentence in 2026, but with the reduction he will be completely free.

Thus, up to 12 ETA members will immediately benefit from a reduced sentence. Others will anticipate their release by several years, depending on the time they have spent in French prisons.

Kantauri, Olatz, Gaddafi…

Another of the most bloodthirsty is Jose Javier Arizkuren, Kantaouriwho belonged to the group’s military apparatus until 1999 and was responsible for numerous attacks which cost the life of a twenty people. His sentence expired in 2032, but now he will also be able to get out in a few months after serving almost eight years in France.

In 2028 he would be released Aitor Aguirrebarrenaconvicted of the murder of José Luis López de Lacalle. Juan Antonio Olarra Guridi He will reduce his sentence by seven years and will be released in 2029 after being found guilty of the attack on the Santa Pola barracks (Alicante) in which a six-year-old girl and a passerby died.

Ainhoa ​​​​Mugica Goñipseudonym Olatzwho participated in the attack on Supreme Court judge José Francisco Querol, will be able to deduct four years from his sentence, even if he will not be released until 2033. And Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzaspseudonym Gaddafiwho placed a sticky bomb in a civil guard’s car and murdered his two-year-old son, will be reduced by five years and seven months to be free in 2033.

The Government, favorable

The PP will try to exhaust its options to prevent the entry into force of this rule, which would result in the reduction of more than 130 years in prison for ETA detainees, although it is in the hands of the government. Only a withdrawal of the Executive would allow this.

Meanwhile, the Minister of the Presidency, Felix Bolanosavoided defending the law reform, but said it had taken place in a “peaceful” and “unanimous” manner, with no votes against, although PP and Vox are still unclear how the process could have unfold. slipped through.

For her part, the vice-president Yolanda Diaz He expressly expressed his support, specifying that it is “the transposition of a European directive” and that “it is the fundamental rights“.

Bildu still wins a match, after the release of two ETA prisoners last week and the reform of the law on citizen security, while associations of victims of terrorism are demanding this latest decision.

“Sooner or later, the roadmap will be fulfilled picture to empty the prisons, and the lords Sanchez And Marlaška They will be able to boast all their lives of being cult figures of ETA members,” the AVT said in a statement after learning this news.