Spain: former ETA leader sentenced to 122 years in prison

The Spanish High Court of the National Hearing sentenced a former leader of the Basque separatist organization ETA, Maria Soledad Iparraguirre Guenechea, alias “ Anboto ”, to 122 in prison for the assassination of a Spanish soldier in 1995.

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Historical leader of ETA extradited by France, " Anboto " was found guilty of " giving the order to assassinate Army Commander Luciano Cortizo and supplying the explosives ", according to the court ruling responsible in particular for terrorism cases, made public this Friday, July 24. Luciano Cortizo died in a car bomb attack in the city of Leon (north-western Spain) on December 22, 1995.

This sentence includes in particular a prison sentence of 30 for " terrorist murder against a member of the armed forces " and four sentences of 20 years for " terrorist assassination attempt " against the four injured in the attack, including the daughter of Commander Cortizo , which will have to be compensated.

Sentenced to 20 years in prison in France

The court recalled that this 59-year-old woman had begun to assume in 1993 " responsibilities within the military apparatus " of ETA from France, which extradited her in September, in particular for her role in this attack on 22 December. December 1995.

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In France, “ Anboto ” was sentenced, along with her companion Mikel Albisu Iriarte, known as “ Antza ”, in November 2012 to 20 years of criminal imprisonment, in particular for having “ managed ” a company with a terrorist aim and committed numerous offenses which led to the carrying out attacks. However, no bloody action was directly attributed to them. The couple had been arrested in October 2004 during a large net in Salies-de-Béarn (southwest of France). In May 2018, “ Anboto ” was chosen by ETA to read in Basque the press release announcing the dissolution of the separatist organization. In total, 853 deaths are attributed to the organization in four decades.