ETA ex-leader released under judicial supervision in Spain

A Spanish judge on Wednesday released under judicial supervision a former leader of Basque separatist group ETA who was arrested on a European warrant in France last week.

French authorities on Tuesday handed David Pla over to Spain, where he is wanted for alleged membership in a terrorist organisation.

The 45-year-old Spanish national was arrested on February 13 in the town of Hendaye in southwest France as he reported to police for a regular bail check-in.

A judge with Spain’s National Audience, which deals with major criminal cases, ruled Wednesday that it was not necessary to place Pla in pre-trial detention but took steps to ensure “that he cannot evade justice”.

He ordered Pla to hand over his passport and report weekly to a court.

Pla was arrested in France in September 2015, at the same time as ETA co-leader Iratxe Sorzabal, in what was then seen as a major blow to the armed group which disbanded in 2018 after a decades-long campaign for Basque independence in northern Spain and southwestern France which is estimated to have killed 853 people.

The pair were convicted in February last year and sentenced to five and seven years in prison respectively for “association with criminals with a terrorist aim” between 2008 and 2015.

Pla was freed on bail shortly after, having served most of his term awaiting trial. Sorzabal has yet to finish serving her sentence in France.

During his trial last year Pla said he and Sorzabal had been tasked by ETA from 2010 to¨”organise the peace process” which led to the group’s disbandment.

Pla and Sorzabal are believed to be two of the three hooded people who announced in October 2011 the “definitive cessation of all armed action” on the part of ETA.

Before it disbanded, ETA was considered a terrorist group by the European Union, the United States, Spain and other countries.