Support The Moscow Times!

Ex-Officer Jailed in ETA Case

MADRID -- A long-simmering investigation into death squads that hunted down Basque separatists took a potentially explosive turn Tuesday as a high court judge jailed a second former police official and ordered a manhunt for another who failed to answer a summons for questioning about the attacks.


Judge Baltazar Garzon also continued questioning former Interior Ministry and police officials at Madrid's national court Tuesday, which suggested that new evidence has come light to implicate them in the series of kidnappings and killings carried out in the early 1980s by the shadowy Anti-terrorism Liberation Groups, or GAL.


The group claimed responsibility for the murders in France of 23 people allegedly connected with ETA, the armed Basque separatist group that has killed 743 people since beginning its campaign for the independence of Spain's three Basque provinces in 1968.


Garzon questioned Julian Sancristobal, a former national security chief, for several hours Monday. He was then jailed without bail pending further investigation. Sancristobal, 42, is charged with attempted murder, unlawful arrest and misuse of public funds in connection with the 10-day kidnapping of a Spanish Basque businessman in 1983.


Former Bilbao investigator Miguel Planchuelo entered prison Tuesday on similar charges, and Garzon ordered the arrest of Francisco Alvarez, former head of the national anti-terrorism unit and the only one of five former officials sought who did not respond to summons.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more