The victims of ETA welcome the decision of the Supreme Court on Atristain with relief, although with nuances about its scope

MADRID, 5 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The associations of victims of terrorism have welcomed, although with nuances about its scope, the decision of the Supreme Court rejecting the request of ETA member Xavier Atristain to review his sentence in application of the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), that he questioned the fact that he had not had a lawyer of his choice in incommunicado detention after his arrest.

"The Supreme makes it clear that there is no room for a generalized and ex officio review," Carmen Ladrón de Guevara, the lawyer for the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT), who sounded the alarm about a possible release, told Europa Press. massive if the extensive interpretation of Sortu was not stopped.

This formation advocates generalizing what is known as the 'Atristain doctrine' to other terrorists who are serving sentences, in imitation of what happened with the 'Parot doctrine'. Together with PNV and the Podemos brand in Euskadi, this Friday they insisted on this idea through a joint statement showing their "concern" about the "arbitrary" decision of the Supreme Court, which led to the immediate arrest of Atristain and his reentry into prison of Martutene.

The Criminal Chamber dismissed the review appeal of Atristain, alias 'Golfo', and confirmed the resolution by which he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the crime of belonging to a terrorist organization and possession of weapons and explosives. The ETA prisoner has served eleven years of sentence and his discharge is scheduled for April 5, 2028.

Despite the fact that the ECHR did not respond to the State Attorney's appeal, the Supreme Court maintains Atristain's conviction based, in the opinion of the AVT lawyer, on two key issues: the conviction was based on other evidence in addition to the statement given incommunicado and compensation of 12,000 euros --and 8,000 for costs-- repairs this damage caused by the violation.

"Strasbourg endorses the incommunicado regime," recalls the AVT lawyer, who adds that what she does warn is that in the specific case of Atristain there was a lack of individualized and not generic motivation. However, the Supreme Court has subsequently clarified that this reproach against Spain was resolved for this member of ETA because during the judicial process he did have a lawyer of his choice, for which the limitation of rights was compensated.

Other ETA prisoners, such as Gorka Palacios and Juan Carlos Iglesias Chouzas, 'Gaddafi', have been acquitted in application of the 'Atristain doctrine', but the AVT lawyer recalls that in these cases the decision in which the conviction was based on the statement under incommunicado detention, without other evidence.

The president of Dignity and Justice, Daniel Portero, stresses that in the case of Atristain the Strasbourg resolution is not decisive because the ETA member's incommunicado confession was not key to his subsequent conviction.

"However," says Portero, "it is clear that the resolution is not positive because it gives tools to the terrorists' lawyers to appeal their particular cases." In his opinion, it was the State Attorney's Office, "subject to the Government", which did not do its job well and this will bring "consequences".

Given this circumstance, Portero has indicated that Dignity and Justice will be vigilant to prevent that alleged lack of diligence by the State Attorney "translates into releases and political benefits for Bildu."

For its part, Covite maintains that the ECHR ruling on Atristain has "limited legal consequences" on other ETA prisoners. This association has focused on social networks to denounce the "lies and unjustified attacks on the rule of law" from the ETA environment and from parties such as Sortu, which argued that the Supreme Court's decision "deepens the impunity of the State apparatus and the violation of human rights".

In this sense, Covite has denounced that SARE, the support network for ETA prisoners, requested the release of Atristain. "They do not miss an opportunity to demand impunity and present themselves, the murderers and their accomplices, as victims; there is no room for greater cynicism," they have denounced on his Twitter account.