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Spain court bars 2 ETA-linked Basque parties from upcoming election

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Spain's Supreme Court on Sunday unanimously banned the Basque separatist political groups Democracy 3 Million (D3M) and Askatasuna from participation in the coming March elections. The court found that Askatasuna was a "fraudulent instrument used to give continuity to the activities of political parties outlawed" such as the ETA and Batasuna. The court further found that D3M was "directed, produced, energized and encouraged by Batasuna." The decision of the Supreme Court is subject to review by the Constitutional Court. In January, prosecutors filed charges alleging that the Basque regional prime minister and two other leaders of the Basque socialist party had improper contact with Batasuna, but later requested that the charges be dismissed. Last year, a Spanish judge blocked the ETA-affiliated groups the Basque Nationalist Action Party (ANV) and the Communist Party of the Basque Lands (PCTV), finding that Batasuna had used the groups to circumvent its ban from participating in elections. The Spanish government barred the Basque separatist group Batauna in 2003, finding that it refused to cut ties with ETA.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 09, 2009 (boomark / email).