Outrage over freed ETA terrorist's show of support for Bildu

Convicted ETA terrorist Ander Errandonea Arruti was released from jail on Tuesday after serving a 25-year sentence for the crimes of collaboration with an armed group and possession of firearms and explosives. As he left the Herrera de la Mancha prison in Ciudad Real, Arruti displayed a banner with both Bildu, the Basque abertzale leftist bloc granted permission to stand in the May 22 elections by the Constitutional Court last week, and ETA emblazoned on it.

The Popular Party spokeswoman in Congress, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, called on the government, which has until Thursday to appeal the decision, to use all means necessary to prevent Bildu from running. "You don't have to be very intelligent to see what is there," Sáenz de Santamaría said.

On Wednesday Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero tried to calm matters by calling for respect for the Constitutional Court as an independent juridical body. He did not specify whether he agreed with the decision to overturn an earlier ruling by the Supreme Court which prevented Bildu from running on the elections. The government's legal teams had asked for such a ban after police reports linked the coalition bloc to ETA's strategy of infiltrating democratic institutions.

Separately, the members of the International Contact Group, which is overseeing the current ETA ceasefire on the behest of Basque nationalist parties, on Tuesday called on the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to facilitate the legalization of the Basque abertzale left political grouping Sortu in the Constitutional Court.

In a letter addressed to the prime minister, the group led by South African mediator Brian Currin also requested the government cooperate in verifying the ceasefire announced in January to "facilitate the dismantling of [ETA's] weapons" and also called for the "relaxation of strict security laws," to allow ETA inmates to be transferred closer to the Basque Country. The Constitutional Court is to decide in October whether to revoke the so-called Parot Doctrine, which allows sentences for ETA prisoners to be extended.

The International Contact Group believes that the Basque Country is on the cusp of "an historic opportunity to end the last political conflict in Europe," and has requested the direct involvement of the prime minister. In its letter, it stated that after its own inquiries it was able to confirm that ETA's commitment to end extortion as part of the ceasefire will be upheld.