On July 21, 25 years and a week after the death of Miguel Ángel Blanco, the then heads of ETA Miguel Albisu Iriarte, Mikel Antza; and María Soledad Iparraguire, Anboto, will have to appear before the National Court for the assassination of the popular councilor.
Judge Manuel García-Castellón has summoned both as investigated, a category that he gave them last week in a car in which he held them responsible for having planned and ordered Blanco’s kidnapping, and for not having wanted to prevent the murder.
The judge charged three terrorists, but cites only two of them because they are the ones who are formally available to the Spanish Justice for this attack.
The third was José Javier Arizcuren Ruiz, Kantauri, but in his case the National Court does not have French authorization to act against him for what happened to Blanco. He is serving a sentence in a Spanish prison, but having been handed over by France, the causes for which he can be tried must first be expressly authorized by the French Justice. The Court is on it.
Anboto received the summons this Wednesday while he is in prison serving several recent sentences from the National High Court. She was handed over by France in 2019 and since then she has been facing a very long list of pending cases.
Mikel Antza, for his part, is free. He will have to answer for Blanco’s death, but he has already served the maximum effective prison time and a new sentence would not mean he would go to jail.
Anboto was responsible for the military apparatus of the terrorist group. Specifically, of the legal commandos, those made up of terrorists not yet registered by the Security Forces. As for Mikel Antza, he was at the head of the so-called political apparatus and was number one in the gang.
The former ETA leaders are summoned at 12:00 and 12:15 on July 21. As defendants, both may refuse to testify. Mikel Antza already did it when he had to answer for another reopened cause, that of the murder of Miguel Ángel Ordóñez. On that occasion, Judge Alejandro Abascal prohibited him from leaving Spain and withdrew his passport.
Conforms to The Trust Project criteria
