Expatica news

ETA terrorist ‘shot councillor in head’ in restaurant

29 November 2006

MADRID — A convicted ETA terrorist went on trial on Wednesday accused of the murder of a councillor while the victim’s family watched in a packed curtroom.

Francisco Javier García Gaztelu, known as ‘Txapote’, is accused of shooting the Popular Party (PP) councillor in San Sebastián, Gregorio Ordonez.

The first witness was the PP leader in the Basque Country,  María San Gil, who was with Ordonez when he was killed in 1995.

She told the court how he was shot.

At first, said Gil, she thought it was a “macabre joke”.
 
The prosecutor, Ignacio Gordillo, has asked for Gaztelu to serve 30 years if he is convicted.

Gaztelu has refused to tesify because does not ‘recognise the legimitacy of the court’.

Consuelo Ordonez, sister of the murdered councillor, watched the trial.

She had earlier told reporters she was ‘delighted’ to see justice done.

Ordonez’s widow, Ana Iríbar, broke down in tears.

The court Gaztelu and another ETA terrorist, Juan Ramón Casatorre, went to a restaurant on 23 January 1995.

Gaztelu shot Ordonez in the head, the court heard.

After this trial, Gaztelu will be returned to France where he is serving a sentence for other terrorist offences.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news