Eta militant Antonio Troitino loses Spanish extradition fight

One of Eta’s most notorious militants is to be extradited back to Spain from the UK – after spending the last three years in Britain denying claims that he has rejoined the Basque separatist group.

Sitting at Westminster magistrates’ court, judge Howard Riddle said that Antonio Troitiño, a former leading figure in the Madrid branch of Eta, would receive a fair trial in the Spanish capital.

Troitiño was convicted in Spain of carrying out a spate of terrorist attacks in the 1980s, including the 1986 bombing of a bus carrying members of the Guardia Civil which left 12 policemen dead and dozens injured.

In all, Troitiño was convicted of 22 murders and in 1987 was sentenced to a total of 2,746 years in prison. But he was mistakenly freed in 2011, when a Spanish judge incorrectly interpreted a law that meant that multiple sentences would be served concurrently, rather than consecutively, as had been intended when he first went to prison.

The law – known as the Parot rule after another Eta militant, Henri Parot who was sentenced 4,800 years in prison – also provided for maximum sentences of 30 years.

Troitiño had only spent 24 years behind bars, and fled Spain for the UK before an arrest warrant was issued for his rearrest.

He was first arrested in London in 2012, and has been arguing against extradition – while out on bail – ever since. Speaking at the hearing on Tuesday, Judge Riddle said that he saw “no international material has been put before me to demonstrate that Spain fails to live up to its fair-trial obligations in terrorism cases or otherwise”.

The court also rejected a submission by Troitiño’s barrister, Mark Summers QC, that the case had a political motivation on the part of the Spanish government.

“Many of those convicted in the 1980s are now coming up for release, and this case and others are used by victims’ groups and by some politicians for their own purposes,” Alastair Lyon, his solicitor, told The Independent.

“Nobody really believes he is hoping to rejoin Eta – it seems more likely that the case is part of a desperate desire to appease a certain section of the Spanish public.” Mr Lyon also said that an appeal against the extradition had already been lodged. Troitiño was a prolific and deadly member of Eta in the 1980s. His first murder, perpetrated when he was 26 years old, was of a butcher in the Basque town on Irun.

He was soon targeting more prominent individuals and two years later killed a colonel in the Spanish army, along with two other officials.

In 1986, he made an attempt on the life of the then Spanish Attorney-General, Luis Antonio Buron Beard.

In 2011, Eta said that a ceasefire announced the previous year would be permanent. Despite the scepticism of many in Spain, especially among many in the governing centre-right People’s Party, this latest cessation has held.

Eta has not carried out a deadly attack in Spain since 2009, but is also said to be frustrated at the slow pace of political reform that would allow for greater autonomy in the Basque country.