Last Updated: Friday, 21 February, 2003, 18:16 GMT
Closed Basque paper reappears
A Basque language newspaper which was closed over allegations that it was linked to the armed separatist group ETA has reappeared under a new name.
Euskaldunon Egunkaria was shut down on Thursday and 10 of its senior staff arrested as part of the Spanish Government’s crackdown on Basque separatism.
But on Friday its successor Egunero – which means “every day” in Basque – was on sale at newspaper stands throughout the Basque country with the headline “Shut but not silenced”.
The daily’s assistant director, Xabier Lekuona, told Basque Radio Euskadi that the police had “exerted pressure” to prevent Egunero being printed and distributed.
Sixteen pages were dedicated to the closure of Egunkaria – which had a circulation of around 13,000 – and the police raids on its offices and homes of employees.
National Court Judge Juan del Olmo, who ordered the paper’s closure, said it was temporary while he probed the fundraising network of the separatist group ETA.
Confusion
The moderate Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), which governs the autonomous Basque region, has demanded an urgent clarification from the courts.
It said they had to make a distinction between use of the Basque language and terrorism.
But Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who is in Mexico, defended the closure.
“The only people who can seriously say that their freedom of expression and opinion have been damaged are the victims of the terrorist organisation,” Mr Aznar said.
ETA has killed more than 800 people since 1968 in its campaign for an independent Basque state.
The 10 arrested Egunkaria directors are being held in Madrid and are expected to appear before Judge del Olmo over the weekend.
A march to protest against the newspaper’s closure is planned for Saturday in the northern Basque city of San Sebastian.
“The only people who can seriously say that their freedom of expression and opinion have been damaged are the victims of the terrorist organisation”. Jose Maria Aznar (Spanish Prime Minister)