Dignity and Justice denounces Otegi before the Prosecutor's Office of the National Court and asks to question him about the kidnappings and murder revealed by EL MUNDO
The Dignity and Justice victims' association has denounced in the National Court the kidnappings and murder in which, according to police investigations, Arnaldo Otegi was involved and which have been revealed by this newspaper in recent days.
The letter transfers the information from EL MUNDO to the Prosecutor's Office of the National Court, which asks it to open an investigation into the activities of the leader of EH Bildu during the decade in which he was a member of ETA.. “From the events narrated and the documents provided,” the complaint indicates, “it is evident that Arnaldo Otegi Mondragón, El Gordo, participated in six kidnappings [he has already been tried for three others] and one murder, in addition to multiple thefts of explosives, ammunition and explosives and other terrorist attacks against property that caused various damages, for which it would not have been investigated and, therefore, prosecuted. “This is what a total of twelve members of the terrorist organization ETA declared before the State Security Forces and Bodies when they were detained.”
In the letter sent on Tuesday afternoon, Dignity and Justice makes several requests to the Public Ministry. The main one, to request the reopening of all the cases that were opened at the time for the kidnappings and the murder in which Otegi could be involved and that his statement be taken as an investigation.. To do this, the association wants to rely on previous reports from the National Police and the Civil Guard on the terrorist activity of the nationalist leader.
Finally, he asks that the Court verify whether he was able to pay the compensation of 100,000 pesetas (600 euros) that was imposed on him for one of the kidnappings and that he had evaded by declaring himself insolvent.. “If not, activate the necessary mechanisms to activate the collection procedure through administrative means for said convicted person.
The Prosecutor's Office headed by Jesús Alonso will now have to review the complaint and, after opening some proceedings, decide whether to file them immediately or if it makes inquiries that could lead to a request to a court to open a new judicial case or reopen the case. some that were archived. A recent complaint from the same association about former terrorists who were running in the last elections was settled with a devastating file that contained errors and had to be corrected.
The main obstacle to activating investigations is the statute of limitations of the alleged crimes, which have already exceeded 20 years.. However, the National Court maintains open investigations for crimes that also exceeded those deadlines.. In favor of the thesis of investigating what happened in the 70s and 80s, the complaint uses the Mission Report of the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, of March 4, 2022, regarding the 379 cases of still unsolved murders committed by the terrorist organization ETA.
One of the recommendations is to “request the continuation of an updated, detailed and exhaustive investigation procedure for unresolved cases, from the Prosecutor's Office and with the participation of the State Security Forces and Bodies, without entering into prior assessment of the possible legal prescription of the case, in order to respond to the families who continue waiting for justice. “This consideration should be made at the end of the investigation, the outcome of which should be informed to victims who request it.”
“This is why,” continues the association led by Daniel Portero, “that this complaint is admitted for processing and investigation proceedings initiated by this prosecutor's office of the National Court in view of the fact that the European institutions recommend that Spanish judicial authorities the investigation of the crimes committed by the terrorist organization ETA in its more than fifty years of history, without assessing in advance whether they are statute-barred or not.