SPAIN: The Basque leader Arnoldo Otegi was yesterday sentenced to 15 months in jail and seven years' prohibition from holding office for incitement to terrorism.
He was found guilty of making a speech supporting Eta at a political meeting in December 2002 honouring the organisation's iconic figure José Miguel Benarain, alias Argala.
Mr Otegi is currently on bail pending an appeal after receiving an earlier 12-month sentence for insulting King Carlos, whom he described as "the boss of the torturers". He was held in custody for two weeks last month while Batasuna, Eta's political front, raised the €750,000 bail. One of the clauses of his conditional liberty is that he is forbidden to leave the country and must report to the police every week.
But yesterday's sentence comes just 24 hours after Mr Otegi and Fernando Barrena, another member of the banned Batasuna party also on bail, applied to Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska for authorisation to travel to Dublin.
According to the pacifist Association for Dignity and Justice, Mr Otegi - who has been described as "the Basque Gerry Adams" - and Mr Barrena have been invited to attend "a series of public and private events organised by Sinn Féin".
The latest turn in events comes over a month after Eta announced a permanent ceasefire, giving rise to a new mood of optimism in the Basque country.
One of the terms of the ceasefire was that blackmail and extortion should end. But letters demanding money were received over two weeks after the truce began. After an investigation, the prime minister said he was satisfied they had been sent before the ceasefire, although the conservative opposition Popular Party remains unconvinced.
Their doubts increased last weekend when fire bombs destroyed two business premises in Navarra, one owned by a right-wing politician.