National
Three ANV leaders charged with collaborating with terrorists
By m.p.
Feb 5, 2008 - 10:27 PM

The National Court has charged three leading members of the Basque party, ANV, with collaborating with terrorists, after a hearing on Tuesday to decide on suspending the party’s activities for links to Batasuna, ETA’s outlawed political wing.

Those charged are the ANV President, Kepa Mirena Bereziartua, their General Secretary, Antxon Gómez, and the third is Alazne Arocena, who is responsible for the party’s accounts. Judge Baltasar Garzón said in his ruling that the three had a part in funding the ‘terrorist activities of ETA-Batasuna’ by transferring money to Batasuna.

The judge has been investigating both ANV and PCTV, the Communist Party of the Basque Lands, as possible successors to Batasuna. He based his decision on Tuesday on police reports on links with ETA’s political wing, which, El Mundo said, have revealed a common fund set up last July. The reports also show that three Batasuna leaders have used visa cards on an ANV account: one of them was Pernando Barrena, who was arrested this Monday along with two other Batasuna leaders.

The prosecutors’ office at the National Court has asked that both ANV and PCTV should be declared illegal.