On the face of it, the Supreme Court’s March 23 decision to deem the new Basque nationalist party Sortu illegal was yet another instance of Spain’s justice system refusing to give an inch to those it suspected of having links to the terrorist group ETA. Sortu had hoped to represent the birth of new hope for those wanting an independent Basque Country. The new formation unveiled itself in February, insisting it was not simply a continuation of Batasuna, ETA’s outlawed political wing. To prove this, the party’s statutes explicitly rejected the use of violence, including that of ETA, an unprecedented move for a group representing the izquierda abertzale, or radical Basque left. But on … [Read more...] about A shift in the Basque Country despite Sortu’s prohibition
sortu ilegalizado
With Sortu banned, what now for radical Basque nationalists?
The Basque nationalists who once went under the name of Batasuna have been thwarted in their attempt to be registered as a legal party ahead of the May 22 municipal elections. Their new party, Sortu, was their latest attempt to get back into the political mainstream and give radical nationalists a voice at the ballot box. After a 10-hour deliberation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday backed the government’s argument that this is simply a continuation of Batasuna, and therefore by association ETA. Sortu can appeal to the Constitutional Court, but by the time that ruling is issued, the elections will almost certainly have come and gone. The government insists it has handled this by the … [Read more...] about With Sortu banned, what now for radical Basque nationalists?