Spain on high alert as 56 accused of links to ETA go on trial

FIFTY-SIX people went on trial yesterday on charges of raising money and engaging in other activities for Basque separatist group ETA through a network of social and political groups.

The defendants sat in the courtroom wearing sweatshirts with a slogan in Basque: “For civil and political rights” and the case file number - 18/98 - crossed out. The trial is the largest ever in terms of numbers to go before the National Court, the Spanish tribunal dealing with affairs of state and terrorism. Spain, the EU and the US classify ETA as a terrorist organisation.

The case is the culmination of an eight-year investigation by Judge Baltasar Garzon, Spain’s leading anti-terror investigator. Judge Garzon claims ETA was not just made up of its armed wing but also had support through political, financial and media groups. Prosecutors are seeking jail terms of nearly 900 years for the 56 accused, who face individual sentences of between 10 and 51 years if convicted. They are charged with crimes ranging from membership to or collaboration with a terrorist organisation to tax violations. The trial began with the defence lawyers asking for the suspension of the trial, citing a lack of documents and other procedural issues. Their requests were denied by the three-judge panel.

The trial, which is to hear testimony from more than 300 people, is being held under tight security at a trade fair pavilion in the outskirts of Madrid. The site was used for Europe’s first major trial of suspected al-Qaida members.

The proceedings are to last up to five months.

The trial coincides with a lull in attacks by ETA, blamed for more than 800 deaths since the 1960s.