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Josu Urrutikoetxea: punishing the peacemaker
The lead negotiator who brought the long armed struggle of the Basque separatist group ETA to an end now faces criminal charges from the French state. BOB NEWLAND raises the alarm on a dangerous precedent
NEGOTIATOR: ETA delegate Josu Urrutikoetxea
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NOBEL Peace and Literature Prize winners, leading diplomats, experts in conflict resolution, stateswomen and statesmen, more than 70 parliamentarians as well as magistrates, intellectuals and artists from all over the world joined forces to call on France for the protection of Josu Urrutikoetxea just a few days before his trial before the Criminal Chamber of the Paris Judicial Court on June 16.
He is accused of “criminal conspiracy with terrorist intent,” even though the acts covered by these proceedings are directly linked to the preparation of the negotiations in Geneva, from 2002 to 2005 and to the negotiation in 2010 of the roadmap for the resolution of the conflict between Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the Spanish government in which he was one of the main players.
International pressure has already contributed to the release of Josu on bail pending his trial but he now faces the possibility of a return to prison. Extraordinarily, it is the French government, not the Spanish, which is pursuing these charges.
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