Spanish prosecutors file lawsuit against new Basque party

Spanish prosecutors filed a lawsuit against a new Basque party with the Supreme Court today, calling it a successor of Batasuna – already banned for links to armed separatist group Eta.

The new party, Abertzale Sozialisten Batasuna, or ASB, contains several elements that indicate it is a continuation of Batasuna, which was made illegal in 2003, Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido said after prosecutors filed the lawsuit in Madrid.

The new group, whose name stands for Patriotic Socialist Union, had been registered by members of Batasuna last week in the hope that it could field candidates for municipal elections on May 27.

“ASB is a succession or continuation of Batasuna,” Conde-Pumpido said. He said people behind the new party have links with Eta and Batasuna. He also highlighted the use of the word “Batasuna” in its name.

He said that while the case was being studied at the court, the party could not be officially registered.

Batasuna was banned under a special law that insists all parties must denounce violence, something it has so far refused to do in relation to Eta’s campaign for Basque independence, which has claimed more than 800 lives since the late 1960s.

Eta broke a nine-month cease-fire with a Madrid airport bombing on December 30 that killed two people.

Batasuna leader Arnaldo Otegi claimed last week that banning the new party would be a “major attack against democratic liberties.” He said the new party was fully within the law.

In its registration documents, the party stated its aims were to achieve independence and socialism by “exclusively democratic political means,” but made no explicit condemnation of violence.