Ruling frees basque terrorist

A Basque separatist terrorist sentenced to thousands of years in prison has walked free after the European Court of Human Rights ruled her rights to have her the term reduced were violated.

in 1987 Ines del Rio Prada was given a total of 3,828 years for multiple terror attacks carried out by the armed group ETA that killed 24 people.

Del Rio had been due for release in 2008, but Spain’s courts ruled her sentence reduction was applicable only to her full sentence, and not to the 30-year maximum period she could be kept in jail under law.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in del Rio’s favour and Spain’s National Court heeded the decision by ordering her release.

Spanish authorities have warned the ruling could lead to demands for release by more than 100 prisoners including convicted terrorists and killers.

ETA is blamed for the killings of more than 825 people in a campaign of bombings and shootings aimed at achieving an independent Basque state straddling Spain’s border with France.

The group has been badly hit by arrests in recent years.