Basque leader facing solitary for recording political speech

The disciplinary commission of the Logroño prison has punished the leader of the Basque radical abertzale left, Arnaldo Otegi, with 12 days of solitary confinement after it emerged that he had made a speech via telephone, which was recorded and later played at a campaign rally for the EH Bildu party in Barakaldo, Bizkaia.

Otegi, who has been in jail since 2009 after having attempted to reform the leadership of the Batasuna party on the orders of Basque terrorist group ETA, has not yet suffered the punishment given that he has launched an appeal against the measures with High Court Judge José Luis Castro.

Otegi took advantage of a phone call that he had permission to make to a family member to record a speech in which he called for votes for Bildu, calling on Basques to take advantage of the weakness of Spain. He also called on followers to "empty the jails and occupy the streets."

Final decision

The movement of ETA prisoners to jails in the Basque Country is one of the key demands of the group, which announced a definitive end to violence last year.

Once the judge has taken a decision on the punishment for Otegi - who has managed to give around 20 interviews while in jail - the prisons service will not be able to appeal.