Basque government again grants semi-release to former ETA leader Anboto

María Soledad Iparragirre, the former ETA leader known as Anboto, will again be allowed to leave prison during the week to carry out volunteer work. The Basque government’s Department of Justice and Human Rights approved the measure under Article 100.2 of Spain’s prison regulations.

The regime allows prisoners held in the ordinary second degree to leave prison from Monday to Friday and return to spend the night there. The department said the decision followed a unanimous recommendation from the treatment board at Zubieta prison in San Sebastián. It said Iparragirre had committed to a treatment plan involving volunteer work outside prison. The measure is expected to take effect in the coming days.

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a treatment plan to carry out volunteer work

The Basque government had granted the same arrangement in March, citing a favorable evolution after earlier periods of maladjustment and describing daily release as a realistic plan for social reintegration. Iparragirre began leaving Martutene prison on March 23, but National Court Judge José Luis Castro revoked the authorization a month later and ordered her to remain in the ordinary second-degree regime.

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favorable evolution after earlier periods of maladjustment

Castro acknowledged that Iparragirre had received a positive assessment for accepting responsibility for her crimes, paying civil liabilities in installments, rejecting violence and apologizing to victims. He nevertheless concluded that the legal requirements for such a relaxation of her prison regime had not been met.

Iparragirre is serving a 30-year sentence for convictions including 10 murders, possession of explosives and weapons, attacks, arson, causing major damage and crimes against the Crown. The same judge also revoked a similar measure granted to former Donosti commando member Juan Ramón Carasatorre, before the Basque government granted it again in July.

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realistic planning for the process of social reintegration