The Five Demands

Un tribunale di Belfast ha disposto l’estradizione di Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos

Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos (Iñaki de Juana Chaos), 54 anni e giudicato colpevole di 25 omicidi in Spagna, verrà presto estradato.
Questa la decisione di un tribunale di Belfast che non ha tenuto conto delle richieste ne dell’imputato ne della sua difesa.
Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos teme di non poter ottenere un processo equo e di dover fronteggiare pene più severe per le proprie ideologie politiche.
I suoi avvocati hanno sostenuto che un’ulteriore reclusione sarebbe disumano e che la sua vita verrebbe messa a rischio dalla fragile salute mentale. Hanno ricordato che durante una precedente detenzione, era stato più volte picchiato e sottoposto a 17 anni di isolamento. Condizioni queste, che gli hanno causato stati ansiosi e perdita del sonno.
Il giudice Burgess ha dichiarato di aver fiducia nel sistema giustiziaro spagnolo sulla base delle procedure di mandato di arresto europeo. De Juana Chaos venne rilasciaot nell’agosto 2008, dopo aver scontato oltre 21 anni di carcere per il suo ruolo in una campagna di omicidi firmati dall’ETA.
E’ ricercato in Spagna per il contenuto di una lettera firmata di suo pugno, letta a San Sebastian il giorno seguente il suo rilascio. La frase incriminata è “Aurrera bolie”, che tradotto letteralmente significa “calciare la palla in avanti”.

Extradition for Basque separatist (BBC News Northern Ireland)
A court in Belfast has ordered the extradition of a Basque separatist convicted of 25 murders in Spain.
The judge rejected Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos’s claim he would not get a fair trial and may face harsher punishment for his political beliefs.
His lawyers argued further imprisonment would be inhumane and his life was at risk because of fragile mental health.
Judge Burgess said he had confidence in the Spanish justice system because of European Arrest Warrant procedures.
De Juana Chaos, 54, was released from prison in August 2008 after serving more than 21 years in jail for his part in an ETA campaign of murders.
Basque phrase
He is wanted in Spain over the contents of a letter read out at a rally in San Sebastian the day after his release from jail.
The message was allegedly given in his name, with the charge against him heavily dependent on the Basque phrase “aurrera bolie”, which translates literally as “kick the ball forward”.
He faces the possibility of further imprisonment if convicted of the public justification of terrorist actions which caused humiliation and intensified the grief of victims and their relatives.
De Juana Chaos has been living with his wife in west Belfast on bail while fighting extradition, and has seven days to lodge an appeal to the ruling.
Recorder Tom Burgess told the court on Monday he was satisfied De Juana Chaos’s concerns were groundless that Spanish authorities “would seek to put him on trial for any offence other than that which is included in the warrant”.
He said if convicted, he did not believe the court would “seek to exceed its sentencing powers of two years”.
‘Beaten repeatedly’
Lawyers for De Juana Chaos had told the court that during a previous imprisonment, he was beaten repeatedly and subjected to 17 years of solitary confinement.
The alleged assaults and ill-treatment at prisons in mainland Spain and on the Canary Islands between 1987 and 1998 led to symptoms including anxiety and sleep deprivation, they said.
The court was told De Juana Chaos, who had endured previous lengthy hunger strikes, would suffer a serious deterioration in his health and likely death if sent back to jail there.
Judge Burgess said there was no evidence that he would not receive a fair trial, and he could seek bail from the courts in Spain.
He recognised the potential impact if he were to be sent back to jail, especially if put in solitary confinement, but added that if he engaged with the Spanish judicial system, arguments could be advanced for why he should be granted bail.
He said questions about his mental state should be left to the Spanish authorities.