Two former ETA chiefs have refused this Thursday to testify at the National High Court about the attack against Miguel Ángel Blanco, the PP councilor from Ermua (Bizakia) kidnapped and murdered in 1997. Mikel Albisu, alias
Antza
, and María Soledad Iparraguirre,
Anboto
, have appeared as defendants before Judge Manuel García-Castellón, who reopened this summary in March to investigate the former leadership of the gang for a "crime of omission": that is, for ordering the crime and not stopping it during the 48 hours that the mayor remained held by the terrorists.
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Confessions and compact discs: the clues that surround two former ETA chiefs for the murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco
According to detailed legal sources, Antza has told the judge that he was not going to testify and that he had already been sentenced for his membership of ETA in France, where he served a sentence and from which he was expelled in 2019. He currently lives in Spain and is in freedom.
The magistrate has accepted the request of the popular accusations (PP, Dignity and Justice and the Association of Victims of Terrorism) that his passport be withdrawn, a measure that was already taken in the investigations into the murder of the popular mayor Gregorio Ordóñez, for which Albisu is also under investigation.
Anboto, who is in prison, has also refused to answer any questions.
The reopening of this summary delves into the new path opened in the courts to investigate the former leaders of ETA for the attacks carried out by their subordinates.
The National Court has reintroduced up to seven summaries in recent months and keeps 23 former ETA leaders on target.
"Nothing was done, nothing moved in ETA, that was not known, coordinated, directed, ordered and, in most cases, authorized by its executive committee," the Civil Guard emphasizes in its reports.
Amaia Izko, a lawyer for the ETA members, has criticized these procedures: “They have no basis in legislation or jurisprudence.
They suppose an exceptional situation and outrage.
At the moment, they can only be explained by revenge and to win in the National Court in the battle of the story.