Britain to extradite convicted ETA member to Spain (Roundup)

Mar 1, 2010, 16:30 GMT

London - A convicted top member of the Basque separatist organization ETA who sought refuge in Northern Ireland is to be extradited to Spain to face further charges, a court in the British province of Northern Ireland ruled Monday.

Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos, 54, who has lived in Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic since the autumn of 2008, has already served a long jail term in Spain for his role in 25 murders.

In the final stages of the court proceedings in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, the ex-prisoner threatened a hunger strike if he was sent back.

But on Monday, Judge Tom Burgess, the recorder at Belfast's Laganside courts, ruled in favour of his extradition, saying he had no indication that the convicted terrorist would be subjected to 'inhumane treatment' in Spain.

The ruling follows lengthy legal proceedings in which lawyers for the Spanish authorities had been seeking to have him returned to Spain to face fresh charges of 'praising terrorism.'

'All courts are more than conscious of the statements and pressures that emanate from many sources outwith the judicial system, but there is no reason to believe that the judicial system of Spain is any less robust in carrying out its duties without fear or favour,' he ruled.

De Juana would face the possibility of a two-year jail term if convicted of the public justification of terrorist actions, reports said.

The accusations against him focus on the contents of a letter read out in his name at a rally in San Sebastian in August 2008, which allegedly called for a continuation of the fight against the government in Spain.

De Juana was released from jail in Spain in August 2008 after serving 21 years of a sentence of more than 3,000 years for participating in 11 attacks that killed 25 people, and for writing articles favourable to terrorism. He was for a time head of ETA's Madrid cell.

He was later suspected of having committed another offence of praising terrorism, for which an international arrest warrant was issued for him in November 2008, after he failed to show up in court.

After moving between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, where he was reportedly given shelter by former members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), de Juana was eventually arrested and his trial over extradition began.

According to a Court Service spokeswoman, judge Burgess took the view that he was obliged to place trust in the judicial procedures of Spain unless and until evidence was placed before him that de Juana would not receive a fair trial and would not have his European Convention on Human Rights entitlements respected.

The defence had argued his extradition was issued for the purposes of prosecuting him for his political opinions and, if extradited, he would be prejudiced at this trial or punished because of his views.

His lawyers said de Juana's mental condition was such that it would be unjust or oppressive to extradite him, and his extradition would not be compatible with his rights under the European Convention.