World: Eta bomber jailed for 100 years

Friday, 30 December 2005

Spain's high court has sentenced an Eta member to 100 years and three months in prison for the murder of a socialist leader almost six years ago. Fernando Buesa and bodyguard Jorge Diez died in a car bomb attack in the Basque capital, Vitoria, in February 2000. The court said the case against Eta's Diego Ugarte Lopez de Arkaute had been proven beyond doubt, Efe reports.

Eta, which wants an independent Basque nation, has been blamed for more than 800 killings in the past four decades.

It has not carried out any fatal attacks for two years but has claimed responsibility for a series of small bombs set off in recent weeks.

Street protest

On top of the 100-year jail term, the court imposed an order banning Diego Ugarte from living near his victims' families or communicating with them in any way for five years after his release.

It is the first time such a penalty has been applied to an Eta member by the court, according to Spanish media reports.

Mr Buesa, a 53-year-old married father of three, was murdered three weeks before Spanish general elections were held.

He was head of the provincial chapter of the Basque Socialist Party, which had voiced its opposition to Basque separatism.

Three days before his death, Mr Buesa was among 10,000 people to participate in an anti-Eta demonstration in the nearby city of San Sebastian.

Mr Diez, a 26-year-old policeman acting as his bodyguard, was also killed when the 20kg bomb exploded as they crossed Vitoria's university campus.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Vitoria the night of the attack to protest against the killings.

The current Spanish Socialist government has offered to hold talks with Eta if it renounces violence.

The militants' planned Basque homeland encompasses areas of northern Spain and south-western France.

Source: BBC

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