ETA prisoner Xabier Atristain returns to prison after having his third degree granted by the Basque Government revoked

BILBAO, 14 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

ETA prisoner Xabier de Atristain was re-entered this afternoon in the Martutene prison, once the Central Court of Penitentiary Surveillance (JCVP) of the National High Court has considered the appeal filed by the prosecution against the third degree that was granted by the Department of Justice of the Basque Government, as reported by Etxerat.

In a statement, the association of relatives and relatives of ETA Etxerat prisoners, which has assured that Atristain "fulfills all the conditions" for the third degree, has affirmed that the decision of the Central Prison Surveillance Court "returns Atristain to the second degree and means his re-entry into jail".

From Etxerat they have expressed their "indignation at the accumulation of nonsense that curtails the rights of the San Sebastian prisoner, who has already served 12 years in prison and in 14 months will serve three-fourths of his sentence, although a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, taken by unanimously in January 2022, concluded that he had not received a fair trial, given that during his incommunicado detention he was not allowed to appoint a trusted lawyer".

Etxerat recalled that last February his sentence was suspended and he went out on the street, but, nevertheless, he was again arrested and imprisoned on June 2, "once the Spanish Supreme Court decided not to review his sentence of 17 years.

However, the association has indicated, "as in other cases of prisoners who meet the required conditions, the Basque Government gave Atristain, in July, the third degree and, since then, he could go to sleep at his home" .

Etxerat recalled that, as announced in September, the Public Prosecutor's Office has appealed in recent months the third degrees of a total of 13 Basque prisoners, including Xabier Atristain.