Four civil guards jailed for ETA torture

A Guipúzcoa court has convicted four of the 15 civil guards accused of torturing ETA members Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola, perpetrators of the 2006 bomb attack on Madrid's Barajas Airport, which killed two people.

Juan Jesús Casas, José Manuel Escamilla, Sergio García and Sergio Martínez received jail sentences totaling 11 years for insulting, threatening to kill and beating the two men after they were arrested in January 2008. The other 11 agents accused were acquitted.

The ruling, which was made public on Thursday, stated that the fact that both men were convicted ETA members, each facing 1,040-year jail terms, did not deprive them of "all probative reliability."

It is the first conviction of security forces agents for mistreating prisoners in many years.