The judge of the 'Miguel Ángel Blanco case' will take a statement this Monday from the former head of ETA 'Kantauri'

The investigated is expected not to testify since France has not handed him over for these events

MADRID, 16 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National High Court who is investigating whether the murder of the PP councilor in Ermua Miguel Ángel Blanco was ordered by the leadership of the terrorist organization ETA will take a statement as investigated this Monday from the former head of the gang José Javier Arizcuren Ruiz, alias 'Kantauri' .

It was last September when the head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6, Manuel García Castellón, summoned the former head of the terrorist group. Specifically, the magistrate agreed to summon him at 11:00 a.m. by videoconference from the Pamplona I Penitentiary Center.

However, legal sources explain to Europa Press that the foreseeable thing is that 'Kantauri' avails himself of the specialty law and does not declare before the instructor since France did not agree to his delivery to Spain due to the facts that are being investigated in this case.

'Kantauri', who is serving a sentence in the Pamplona I Penitentiary Center, was handed over by the Gallic country for events other than the murder of the mayor, which forced the National Court to request permission to question him about those events.

Last June, the Paris Court of Appeal rejected the European arrest warrant issued on February 4, 2021 by García Castellón, considering that it was "void of content".

García Castellón issued that order as an extension of the one issued in 2016 by the former judge of the National Court Eloy Velasco. The judge made that decision after 'Kantauri' himself, from whom he was going to take a statement that year, recalled that France had not handed him over to Spain for this reason during an appearance scheduled to give an investigative statement for these facts.

The same sources indicate that the judge agreed to issue another surrender and detention order that has not yet been resolved, which would make 'Kantauri's statement unfeasible unless he agreed to do so voluntarily, an extreme that is not contemplated.

That would limit the hearing that is held this Monday at the National High Court to a procedure by which the magistrate will ask the former head of ETA if he resigns or accepts the aforementioned principle of specialty.

It was last March when Judge García Castellón agreed to reopen the investigation into the murder of the Popular Party councilor after admitting a complaint filed by the Dignity and Justice Association (DyJ).

In its brief, the association directed its accusation against the leaders of the gang at the time of the events: 'Kantauri'; Ignacio Miguel Gracia Arregui, 'Iñaki de Rentería'; Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzas, 'Gaddafi'; Asier Oyarzabal, 'Baltza'; Maria Soledad Iparraguirre 'Anboto'; Miguel Gracia Arregui, 'Mikel Antza'; Vicente Goicoechea 'Willy'; Jokin Echevarria and Carlos Ibarguren 'Nerves'.

The judge agreed to call 'Kantauri', 'Anboto', and 'Mikel Antza' as under investigation and appreciated ex officio the prescription of the crimes for 'Iñaki de Rentería', a decision that both the Prosecutor's Office and the PP and DyJ have requested reverse. For their part, 'Mikel Antza' and 'Anboto' refused to testify before the magistrate.

It should be remembered that, in the case of Blanco's murder, the First Criminal Section of the National Court already sentenced in 2006 to 50 years in prison the former ETA leader Francisco Javier García Gaztelu, 'Txapote', and his sentimental partner and member of ETA Irantzu Gallastegui Sodupe, 'Amaia', as perpetrators.

In its sentence, the court assured that both "planned and executed the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco, following the guidelines of the leadership of the terrorist organization ETA, whose most immediate objectives were the kidnapping of a PP councilor to demand in exchange for their release the approach of the prisoners of the gang to prisons in the Basque Country".