New Events

Antrim

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link Ukraine Buys Huge Amounts of Russian Fue... Fri Jan 20, 2023 08:34 | Antonia Kotseva

offsite link Turkey Has Sent Ukraine Cluster Munition... Thu Jan 12, 2023 00:26 | Jack Detsch

offsite link New Israeli Government Promises to Talk ... Tue Jan 10, 2023 21:13 | Al Majadeen

offsite link Russia Training Iranian Pilots Ahead of ... Tue Jan 10, 2023 15:19 | The Times of Israel

offsite link Lukashenko Abolishes Copyright Protectio... Tue Jan 10, 2023 15:05 | Nikki Main

Anti-Empire >>

Human Rights in Ireland
A Blog About Human Rights

offsite link UN human rights chief calls for priority action ahead of climate summit Sat Oct 30, 2021 17:18 | Human Rights

offsite link 5 Year Anniversary Of Kem Ley?s Death Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:34 | Human Rights

offsite link Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights

offsite link Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights

offsite link Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link DEI Wokery is Swallowing Small Businesses Too Fri Mar 29, 2024 09:00 | C.J. Strachan
It's not only large corporations with hyperactive HR departments that are succumbing to efficiency-sapping wokery, says C.J. Strachan. Small and medium-sized enterprises are being swallowed up by DEI as well.
The post DEI Wokery is Swallowing Small Businesses Too appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Are We Being Gaslit Over the Cause of the Princess of Wales?s Cancer? Fri Mar 29, 2024 07:00 | Melissa Kite
First Charles and then Kate ? it's hard to ignore the soaring cancer rate when two members of the Royal Family are diagnosed within weeks. But are we being gaslit about what's behind the surge, asks Melissa Kite.
The post Are We Being Gaslit Over the Cause of the Princess of Wales’s Cancer? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Fri Mar 29, 2024 00:04 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the virus and the vaccines, the ?climate emergency? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Women?s Team with Five Male Players Wins Football Competition After One Male Player ?Broke Opponent?... Thu Mar 28, 2024 19:30 | Will Jones
A women?s football competition has been branded misogynist after it was won by a team featuring five transgender players, amid accusations one had broken an opponent?s leg in two places.
The post Women’s Team with Five Male Players Wins Football Competition After One Male Player “Broke Opponent’s Leg” ? But Teams Who Refuse to Play Against Them Are Branded “Discriminatory” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Further Evidence Gaza Casualty Numbers Are Fake Thu Mar 28, 2024 17:36 | Will Jones
The evidence that the Gaza casualty numbers from the Hamas-run Health Ministry (now over 32,000) are wildly inflated continues to mount. Mark Zlochin looks at what the proportions of male and female UNRWA workers tell us.
The post Further Evidence Gaza Casualty Numbers Are Fake appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Moscow attack reminds us of the links between Islamists and Kiev's fundamentalis... Tue Mar 26, 2024 06:57 | en

offsite link Failure to assist a people in danger of genocide, by Hassan Hamadé Tue Mar 26, 2024 06:32 | en

offsite link Yugoslavia March 24, 1999 The Founding War of the New Nato, by Manlio Dinucci Sun Mar 24, 2024 05:15 | en

offsite link France opposes Russian Korean-style peace project in Ukraine Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:11 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°79 Fri Mar 22, 2024 11:40 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Belfast judge rejects Basque extradition warrant

category antrim | rights, freedoms and repression | news report author Thursday November 19, 2009 18:37author by Emma Clancy - Don't Extradite the Basques Campaign Report this post to the editors

Charges are politically motivated and must be dropped

The Don't Extradite the Basques Campaign has welcomed the ruling by a Belfast judge that the Spanish extradition warrant against Belfast-based Basque activist Artruro Benat Villanueva was “invalid” and calls for the dropping of charges against Iñaki de Juana

‘Charges are politically motivated and must be dropped’

Judge Tom Burgess ruled on Wednesday 18 November that the Spanish authorities’ extradition warrant against Belfast-based Basque activist Artruro Benat Villanueva was “invalid”. The judge rejected the warrant, which claimed that Mr Villanueva was a “member of an illegal terrorist organisation” (Jarrai) from 1994-2000, on the grounds that it did not include any particularities, or details of specific offences committed.

The judge further ruled that there was no specific evidence cited in the warrant that proved Mr Villanueva’s membership of the organisation.

The prosecution has a week to decide if they plan to appeal the ruling.

Welcoming the judgment today, Don’t Extradite the Basques Campaign spokesperson Kevin Morrison said: “The judge’s ruling demonstrates the validity in the message that the Don’t Extradite the Basques Campaign has been putting forward – that the extradition warrant against Benat was politically motivated.

“We urge the British government to acknowledge, after today’s ruling, that the cases against both Basque men being sought by the Spanish government are flawed and politically motivated. The extradition request against Iñaki de Juana must also now be rejected.”

*Arturo Beñat Villanueva
“There were several fundamental flaws in the arrest warrant against Beñat, and the lack of particularity – the fact that there are no exact dates, locations or details of participation in any offence by Beñat – made the warrant invalid in the judge’s view,” Mr Morrison said.

“While Jarrai is a solely political organisation, it was declared illegal by the Spanish authorities in 2005 and categorised as a “terrorist” organisation by Spain’s Supreme Court in 2007.

“During the period of Beñat’s alleged membership of Jarrai, the organisation was legal. The non-retrospectivity legal principle was clearly being breached by the terms of the warrant for his extradition.
“Beñat is being targeted by the Spanish authorities for carrying out political, public and peaceful youth work in the Basque Country. His only ‘crime’ was his political ideas in favour of Basque independence and socialism.”

*‘Reject warrant against Iñaki de Juana’

“The Don’t Extradite the Basques Campaign will continue to oppose the ongoing extradition process against Iñaki de Juana, who is also being targeted on spurious grounds by the Spanish government.

“We believe both men are clearly being persecuted solely for their political opinions, not for any criminal activity. We believe they will not receive a fair hearing with the Spanish judicial system and face the risk of torture.

“We urge the Spanish government to rethink its criminalisation strategy against the pro-independence movement, particularly at this moment in time when significant initiatives towards reviving the peace process have been taken this week by the Basque Abertzale Left movement.

“We urge the British government to acknowledge, after today’s ruling, that the cases against both men are flawed and politically motivated, and to reject the extradition request against Iñaki de Juana.”

***************************

Text of summary of judgment below

The Recorder of Belfast, His Honour Judge Burgess, sitting today in the County Court Division of Belfast, ruled that the European Arrest Warrant for the extradition to Spain of Arturo Villanueva Arteaga to face charges of membership of an illegal terrorist organisation is invalid.

On 27 February 2009 the High Court of Spain issued a European Arrest Warrant for the arrest and extradition of Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga for the offence of being a member of an illegal terrorist organisation, namely JARRAI (a sub-division of ETA). It was claimed that Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga carried out violent and coercive actions in the Basque Region from 1994 to 2000. In January 2007 the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced many members of JARRAI, however some, including Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga, fled abroad without being tried.

Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga was arrested in Northern Ireland on 22 April 2009 and brought before the court with a view to him being extradited to Spain. Representatives for Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga argued that the European Arrest Warrant was defective and did not contain the information required by the Extradition Act 2003.

The Recorder said that the Warrant specifically states the offence as “member of an illegal terrorist organisation” and that it contains sufficient information to allow him to conclude that it is membership of JARRAI that is being alleged. The Recorder found, however, that the particulars in the Warrant are general and lack any specificity as to the actions of Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga which would evidence his membership of the organisation, for example attending meetings, giving interviews, or being involved in the organisation of the group.

The judge said that the Warrant also makes a specific reference to Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga personally carrying out violent and coercive actions from 1994 to 2000. He noted in his judgment that there was no reference to where the attacks are alleged to have taken place, the specific targets of the alleged attacks, the dates or any other information which would, in his opinion, allow anyone reading the Warrant to know what specific personal allegation or allegations are being made against Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga over and above his alleged membership of JARRAI.

He therefore declared that the Warrant is invalid.

Related Link: http://www.dontextraditethebasques.org
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy