Spain’s supreme court ruled Sept. 18 to ban the Basque Communist Party (EHAK-PCTV) on the grounds that it is linked to the ETA armed separatist group and the successor party of the Batasuna, which was declared illegal in March 2003. A week earier, the court banned the Acción Nacionalista Vasca (ANV) party following a court order by the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, calling for “liquidation of everything related to that party.” (ThinkSpain, Sept. 19; eitb24, Sept. 16)
See our last posts on Spain and the Basque struggle.
ETA reacts to bannings with bombings
A Spanish soldier was killed Sept. 22 in a car bombing outside an army barracks in Santona, after a warning by the Basque separatist movement ETA, Spanish national radio reported. It was the third ETA bombing in 24 hours in northern Spain. (NYT, Sept. 23)