ETA prisoners admit consequences of their actions

The collective representing imprisoned members of the Basque separatist group ETA, took another end towards definitively ending their struggle for Basque independence when on Saturday they issued a statement in which they said they would recognise the Spanish justice system and recognized the suffering they had caused by their actions. ETA's 45 year struggle for the independence of the Basque region in the north of Spain has caused 829 deaths and numerous injuries and around 600 members of the group are currently in Spanish prisons. They have long claimed to be political prisoners, demanding different treatment from common criminals, which the Spanish government has always denied, thus this latest move which comes around two years after the group announced a definitive ceasefire, can be seen as a significant step forward to a definitive abandonment of their arms. "We recognise, in all sincerity, the suffering and damage caused to all parties," said representatives of the collective EPPK, which represents ETA convicts, in a communique published in both Basque and Spanish by the newspaper Gara, which has long served as a mouthpiece for the group. "We take entire responsibility for the consequences of our political activities," said the statement, which has been welcomed on Sunday by the majority of the political parties in Spain, with the exception of the ruling right wing Popular Party. The opposition Socialist Party (PSOE) described the move as a "significant advance", even though the party considers it "comes accompanied by the habitual rhetoric and material designed for internal consumption." The spokesman for the Basque regional government, ruled by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), considered the communique to be "positive" and an "advance", which nevertheless, "needs to be translated into actions," while various pro-independence groups such as Sortu have hailed it as "an important unilateral step forward." The PP meanwhile considers the statement to be "insufficient", while the Association of Victims of Terrorism, which has close ties to the PP, said it was a strategy designed to allow ETA prisoners to leave prison early, adding they should serve the full time of their sentences.