Dozens of ETA members will have their sentences reduced for a legal change which, surprisingly, all parties voted for, PP and VOX too. This vote took place in September, but the news has now broken. The government claims that a European standard is applied. The PP justifies its yes to Congress by saying that it was deceived. But where does this exception come from to not validate the years in prison for ETA members?
Until now, Spain was an exception at European level which prevented the validation of years of sentence served in other countries of the Union. Basque nationalists already They tried to change it in 2018 thanks to a proposal that failed in Congress.
At that time, the PSOE distanced itself and opted for abstention. “Let no one come here to boast of the existence of aa European solution versus a Spanish solution because the differences are very big,” said Gregorio Cámara, former PSOE deputy, in 2018.
While the PP showed its dissatisfaction and voted against: “What the PNV owes to ETA terrorists condemned in France? “We are talking about an initiative whose potential beneficiaries have first and last names.”
The same year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on the rule after some convicted ETA members denounced the Spanish decision. Strasbourg ruled in favor of the Spanish courts and indicated that fundamental rights had not been violated.
“The legal satisfaction in these terms is obvious. This means that the Spanish courts have had their decision confirmed by the highest interpreter of fundamental rights and freedoms,” Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Minister of the Interior, said in 2018.
A rule which dates from the end of 2014, when the Rajoy government prevented convicts from accessing possible sentence reductions. However, among the possible beneficiaries, there are names like Txapote, Anboto or Mobutuwho will see his sentence reduced by 23 years.
