Adams condemns jailing of suspected ETA leader

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams today condemned the imprisonment in Spain of a Basque politician on suspicion of being a leader of terrorist group, ETA.

Arnaldo Otegi was jailed after a judge said there was evidence of links between ETA and the Basatuna political group.

But Mr Adams warned the Spanish authorities that the process of criminalising Basque leaders would undermine efforts to rebuild the peace process there.

The jailing of Otegi came as ETA were blamed for detonating a car bomb in Madrid yesterday which injured three people in the San Blas district.

It was the seventh explosion attributed to ETA in the eight days since the Spanish parliament supported peace talks with the Basque militants if they laid down their arms.

Otegi, a member of the Basque regional parliament, will be released from prison if a bail bond of €400,000 is met.

He previously served a four-year sentence for kidnapping.

One of Otegi’s former parliamentary colleagues, Jon Salaberria, is also being sought under an international arrest warrant.

Mr Adams said the jailing of the Basque politician was a matter of deep concern.

“Yesterday’s decision to jail Basatuna leader Arnaldo Otegi is deeply concerning and will only serve to setback efforts to establish a peace process,” he said.

“The policy of criminalisation and exclusion pursued by successive Spanish governments has been a failure and should be ended.

“It is our view that a real opportunity exists to make progress and last week’s vote in the Spanish parliament, and the outcome of the recent elections in the Basque country, are further evidence of that. This opportunity should be grasped.”

Republicans have long enjoyed closed links with Basque separatists.

In recent years Sinn Féin leaders, including Mr Adams, have given them advice on building a peace process with the Spanish government.

In 2003, Batasuna was banned on grounds that it was ETA’s political wing.

The party has denied being part of ETA but has also refused to condemn attacks by the group.

Despite the ban, Otegi managed to keep his seat in the Basque parliament after the party changed its name.

But he lost his MP’s immunity from prosecution earlier this year when Batasuna candidates were barred from contesting April’s regional elections.

Otegi’s lawyer also condemned the judge’s decision to jail his client, describing it as a “political and legal scandal”.