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Spanish Parliament Backs Call to Outlaw Basque Party August 26, 2002 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:12 p.m. ET MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Police stormed the offices of a Basque political party aligned with the outlawed ETA separatists Monday, hours after Spain's parliament overwhelmingly voted in favor of banning the party. The fast-moving steps against the Batasuna party began earlier Monday when a judge suspended its activities for three years, accusing it of complicity in terrorist acts carried out by the Basque ETA group. Parliament's lower house then voted 295-10 in favor of banning the party. The government is expected to ask the Supreme Court on Friday to outlaw the party. If the justices endorse such a request, Batasuna would be the first political party banned since the 1939-75 dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco. Supporters of the Batasuna party, which has nearly 1,000 elected representatives, gathered outside party offices Monday night in Basque region, waving red-white-and-green Basque flags and swastikas symbolizing Spanish ``fascism.'' National police evicted 20 provincial assembly legislators and members of the party from its office in the northern city of Pamplona, Spanish radio reported Monday night. Several hooded youths wielding with clubs smashed the windows of a bus in the seaside city of San Sebastian after forcing its occupants to leave, the Europa Press news agency reported. In the port city of Bilbao, Batasuna spokesman Arnaldo Otegi said Monday's actions ``have proven that Spain is a fascist and authoritarian state'' and said ``Batasuna will continue working for sovereignty and independence.'' ETA is fighting to carve out an independent Basque homeland in lands straddling northern Spain and southwest France. The parliamentary motion was passed during a special session convened during summer recess, with Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his entire Popular Party government present. ``Batasuna is a mask of ETA ... that justifies ETA's crimes,'' Luis de Grandes, member of the ruling Popular Party, told the session. Batasuna's offices will be closed and the 24-year-old party will be barred from calling public demonstrations or political rallies or receiving a share of electoral funds, according to Judge Garzon's order. The party also cannot run in municipal elections scheduled for May of next year. But lawmakers representing the party will be allowed to serve out their terms in the 75-member Basque regional parliament. The party won 10 percent of the vote in the last Basque regional election in May 2001, and the next regional poll must be called by May 2005. The party also has nearly 900 town councilors in the three Basque provinces and neighboring Navarra. Although Batasuna denies any links with ETA, the government alleges that the party is a key part of the armed group's shadowy network of commandos, fund-raising activities and recruitment operations. Authorities also accuse Batasuna of fomenting street violence by radical Basque youth groups through its strong anti-Spanish stances and its refusal to condemn ETA's attacks. Garzon' order shutting down the party said ETA had killed 836 people since its first attack in 1968 and injured 2,367 over the course of 3,391 attacks, and also sponsored 3,761 acts of so-called low level street violence since 1991. The judge said Batasuna was part of the campaign. ``All of these acts have been systematically aimed at specific sectors of the population, and sometimes indiscriminate, so that one should not hesitate to classify the actions of the terrorist organization ETA, of which (Batasuna) is an element, as crimes against humanity,'' the order said. Batasuna's failure to denounce an Aug. 4 car bombing that killed two people including a 6-year-old girl set in motion the legal proceedings that have led to Monday's historic vote in Madrid. Aznar called Batasuna leaders ``human garbage'' after that attack. -------- On the Net: Batasuna, http://www.batasuna.org Spanish government, http://www.la-moncloa.es Popular Party, http://www.pp.es http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Spain-Basque-Party.html?ex=1031409900&ei=1&en=45d880c8280e743c HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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