The judge agrees with the sister of Miguel Ángel Blanco and stops the appeal of 'Iñaki de Rentería' against his accusation

The private prosecution warned that it could not be considered presented because there was a formal defect that could not be remedied.

MADRID, 1 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National Court (AN) that is investigating the former leadership of ETA for its involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco in 1997 has decided not to consider the appeal filed by the former ETA leader Ignacio Miguel Gracia as presented. Arregui, alias 'Iñaki de Rentería', against his accusation, when appreciating a formal defect that was revealed by the sister of the young PP councilor in Ermua.

In an order from this same Thursday, to which Europa Press has had access, the head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6, Manuel García Castellón, admits the appeal presented by the private prosecution exercised by Marimar Blanco, thus correcting a ruling from the past 23 November where it was said that the challenge of 'Iñaki de Rentería' was considered presented.

Thus, the judge agrees "the reform of the order dated November 23, 2022 in the sense of inadmissible the appeal filed" by the former member of the executive committee of ETA or zuba.

Marimar Blanco warned, in an appeal signed by the lawyer Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Arias, that the challenge of Gracia Arregui before the Criminal Chamber of the AN could not be considered presented in "time and form" -as the order now prayed revoked-- because it had made a serious error that at this point is already irremediable.

This error consisted in the fact that the defense of 'Iñaki de Rentería' did not comply with the "clear legal duty" of prior transfer of his appeal to the attorney for Marimar Blanco, Elena Llarena, as established in article 276 of the LEC.

The lawyer explained, citing numerous Supreme Court and Constitutional jurisprudence, that this is an irremediable defect because on November 18 the deadline to appeal García Castellón's decision to charge the former head of ETA expired and on the 29th the legally expired set to amend this procedural ruling.

Thus, he maintained that the appeal of 'Iñaki de Rentería' should be ignored and, consequently, the order of November 10 for which he was investigated should be considered final.

García Castellón reopened the case last March after admitting a complaint from Dignity and Justice - also signed by Rodríguez Arias - that seeks to condemn those who formed the executive committee of ETA or Zuba when the crime was committed.

The judge has already called the former ETA bosses Miguel Albisu, 'Mikel Antza', to testify; María Soledad Iparraguirre, 'Anboto'; and José Javier Arizcuren, 'Kantauri'; although all of them accepted their right not to testify, the last two arguing that France has not authorized their surrender for these events.

At the request of the instructor, the Civil Guard has already issued a report in which it holds the former ETA leaders responsible for the death of the young councilor because it considers that an order from them could have prevented it.

It should be remembered that, in the case of the murder of Blanco, 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, 'Amaia ', as material authors.

In its ruling, the court stated that both "planned and carried out 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 bringing of the gang's prisoners to prisons in the Basque Country".