The alleged historical leader of ETA Josu Ternera was acquitted of terrorism charges on Wednesday in Paris.
The court considers that there is no evidence to prove his participation in the Basque separatist organization from France and in hiding between 2011 and 2013.
He was retried at his request in June for "participation in a terrorist criminal association", after being sentenced in his absence in 2017, while he was on the run, to eight years in prison.
At the age of 70, the man who is considered to be the “grandfather” of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (“Basque Country and freedom”) was accused of having continued to play an active role there by participating in operations, by living in going underground and maintaining links with its members.
"The court put an end to a case that should never have been opened"
But the court considered that the investigation had not made it possible to establish that he had "been in contact with members of the ETA" between 2011 and 2013. The court adds that if he had lived in France in going underground under a false name ”, no false papers were found, nor traces of suspicious funding or any help whatsoever from ETA members.
“We are relieved, satisfied, it is a necessary decision.
The court put an end to a case that should never have been opened, ”reacted one of his lawyers, Me Laurent Pasquet-Marinacce, after reading the court's decision.
A new hearing during the month
Summoned by the Spanish justice system in 2002, Josu Ternera went into hiding and was arrested in May 2019, after more than sixteen years on the run, in the parking lot of a hospital in Savoy where he was going to be treated.
He must again face the French justice, on September 13 and 14, to answer for his membership in ETA, this time between 2002 and 2005. In this case, he was also tried and sentenced in his absence. in 2010 to five years in prison at first instance, then seven years on appeal.
An audience for which he should be present.
Once these legal proceedings are completed, Josu Ternera could be handed over to Spain, the Court of Cassation having accepted in November 2020 the principle of his extradition requested by Madrid.
