Basque Government grants semi-release to ETA member convicted of murder
The Basque Department of Justice authorised third-degree prison status to Asier Eceiza, an accomplice in the killing of Socialist councillor Juan Priede in 2002. The decision comes one day after the National High Court revoked similar privileges for other ETA militants.
Authorisation of semi-release to those convicted of terrorism
According to ABC, the Basque Government has authorised third-degree prison status (semi-release regime) to ETA member Asier Eceiza Ayerra, an accomplice in the shooting death of Socialist councillor Juan Priede, which occurred on 21 March 2002 in Orio (Gipuzkoa). The decision by the Department of Justice and Human Rights, headed by María Jesús San José, was made one day after the National High Court revoked similar prison benefits to other ETA activists.
The National High Court sentenced Eceiza to 19 years in prison as an accomplice in Priede's murder, the sole councillor that the Socialist Party of Euskadi held in Orio. The sentence was made public in January 2023. In October 2023, just three years ago, the same court sentenced him to a further 182 years in prison for participation as an accomplice in attacks on two hotels in Alicante and Benidorm on 22 July 2003, which left fourteen people injured, six of them National Police officers. He was also convicted on three occasions in France, including a sentence for theft of explosives during which ETA kidnapped the security guard of the company Claude Lefebvre.
The Collective of Victims of Terrorism (Covite) denounced the decision as "unjustifiable". Its president, Consuelo Ordóñez, stated that "three judicial rulings in a single day should lead the Basque Government to reverse course". Ordóñez particularly criticised the fact that the official statement highlighted Eceiza's "personal reflection" and behavioural improvement without mentioning any victims. "Juan Priede had a name and surname. So do the fourteen people injured in Alicante and Benidorm", she pointed out.
Covite considers the grant of semi-release to be "a frontal attack on the right of victims to justice" and describes it as a prison policy aimed at "emptying prisons" of ETA inmates. On the same day that Eceiza was authorised for release, the National High Court revoked prison benefits previously granted to former ETA leader Soledad Iparraguirre 'Anboto' and to other activists such as Jon Olarra 'Guridi' and Arkaitz Aguirregabiria.
Source: ABC