Arnaldo Otegi
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2008) |
Arnaldo Otegi | |
|---|---|
 Arnaldo Otegi at a political rally | |
| Spokesman for Batasuna | |
| In office 1997–2003* | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 July 1958 Elgoibar, Basque Country, Spain |
| Political party | Batasuna |
| Other political affiliations | Euskal Herritarrok |
| Residence | Basque Country |
| Website | www |
| |
Arnaldo Otegi Mondragón (born 6 July 1958) is a Basque politician and spokesman for the Abertzale Basque separatist party Batasuna, which was declared illegal in 2003 for its ties to ETA, a violent separatist organization proscribed as terrorist.
Prior to entering politics, he had been convicted after being accused of being an ETA member and taking part in several actions. Amongs these actions was a kidnap attempt against Luis Abaitúa,[1] a Basque entrepreneur. In the 1990s, after having served time, he started his career in politics, quickly gaining prominence within Basque separatism and becoming the leader of Batasuna. In June 2007 he started serving a sentence for "glorifying terrorism" and was released from prison in August 2008. In October 2009 he was arrested again for attempting to put Batasuna back together.[citation needed]
He remains an important figure within the Basque separatist movement.
Biography
Otegi was born on July 6, 1958 in Elgoibar, (Guipuzcoa), in what later would become the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (Spain). He holds a university degree in philosophy and literature, is married and father of two children.
Between 1977 and 1989 he was actively involved in several operations conducted by ETA, a separatist organization seeking to establish a Marxist-Leninist Basque state. On February 21, 1989 he was found guilty of kidnapping and imprisoned for four years.[2] He decided to change the approach through which he would effect the change he desired. In the Basque parliamentary election, 1994 he was the seventh placed candidate in Guipuzcoa on the list of Herri Batasuna (HB), a pro-Basque independence party linked to ETA. HB won six seats at the election with Otegi initially failing to be elected but on September 27, 1995 he became an MP, substituting a party colleague. In November 1997 the Spanish Supreme Court found several senior members of Herri Batasuna guilty of collaboratin with ETA and convicted them to a seven year sentence, and in the resulting power vacuum, Joseba Permach and Otegi were chosen to fill the new provisional leadership of Herri Batasuna.
On September 12, 1998, Otegi played a key role in the formulation of the "Declaration of Estella/Lizarra", which proposed to solve the Basque Conflict by beginning a process of dialogue with other nationalist parties, most prominently, the Partido Nacionalista Vasco/EAJ (PNV). In the Basque parliamentary election, 1998, he was a candidate for the party Euskal Herritarrok, which had replaced Herri Batasuna, representing the region of Gipuzkoa. The Lizarra-Garazi agreements, which resulted in an ETA truce at that time, helped give Euskal Herritarrok their best results in ten years, and they became the third-largest political party in Basque Country and the adjacent region of Navarre. This popularity in terms of votes was reversed as ETA unilaterally broke the cease-fire with new assassinations.
Recent trials
In August 2000, a senior Basque court accused him of "glorifying terrorism", after allegedly he had shouted "¡Gora Euskadi ta Askatasuna!" in France. However, the Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) closed the case, stating that crimes such as "glorifying terrorism" could not be pursued if committed abroad.[3][4] This precedent was then called forth by the Audiencia Nacional concerning the Carmelo Soria case.[5]
In May 2005 Arnaldo Otegi was put on trial for belonging to ETA, but was released after posting a bail for €400,000. He was arrested again the next year, only three days after ETA called off its "ceasefire". Shortly after, a Spanish Supreme Court ruling confirmed the 15-month prison sentence against Otegi for "glorifying terrorism," [6] [3] from 2003. He appealed the sentence, but a panel of judges unanimously rejected the appeal. In November 2005, Otegi was sentenced to a year in prison, on charges of slander against King Juan Carlos during a 2003 news conference. Otegi had then stated that the King was the "chief of the Spanish army, that's to say, the person responsible for the torturers, who favour torture and impose his monarchic regime on our people through torture and violence".[2]
On April 27, 2006 he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for glorifying terrorism in a speech he gave in 2003 in commemoration of the killing of a prominent ETA member 25 years ago. He started serving the sentence on June 8, 2007 [6] and was then released from prison in August 2008.
As of September 2008, he has four open trials against him for ETA-related charges[7]
In March 2010 Spanish court sentenced Otegi to two years in jail for "glorifying terrorism". Arnaldo Otegi was charged over a speech he gave in 2005 in which he compared a jailed Eta member to South African Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela. Arnaldo Otegi has also been banned from holding public office for 16 years. [8]
On December 2010 The Spanish National Audience found Arnaldo Otegi not guilty of the charge of glorifying terrorism during a rally held in the Anoeta Velodrome in San Sebastian in November 2004. The court ruled that during the act, Otegi did not praise ETA, but was in fact defending "peaceful coexistence and the need for a process of dialogue and negotiation in order to resolve the conflict in a non-violent and democratic way".[9]
2009 arrest
On October 16, 2009, Otegi, along with other Basque politicians and activists such as Rafael Díez Usabiaga, was once again arrested for trying to put Batasuna back together. He started a hunger strike on January 27, 2010 but stopped it soon after.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Detenidos los presuntos secuestradores de Luis Abaitua
- ^ a b Basque convicted for king insult, BBC News, 4 November 2005 Template:En icon
- ^ El Supremo no actuará contra Otegi porque vitoreó a ETA fuera de España, El Pais, 28 May 2002 Template:Es icon
- ^ "Terror Case Thrown Out". The New York Times. 28 May 2002. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Archivan el caso del asesinato de Carmelo Soria en Chile por el precedente de Otegi, El Pais, 31 May 2002 Template:Es icon
- ^ a b Basque leader arrested in Spain, BBC News, 8 June 2007 Template:En icon
- ^ [1]
- ^ Spain jails Basque separatist leader Arnaldo Otegi, BBC News, 2 March 2010 Template:En icon
- ^ [2]
External links
- Arnaldo Otegi's "Mañana Euskal Herria" book about the situation of Basque Country
- Web page calling for Otegi's release from prison
- Dos años de cárcel para Otegi por enaltecer a ETA, Publico.es, 02/03/2010
- Arnaldo Otegi free Fermin Muguruza's song supporting Arnaldo Otegi, with English subtitles