Burgos trials

The Burgos trials (Spanish: Proceso de Burgos) were a series of military tribunals held in the Spanish city of Burgos from 3 to 9 December 1970. The trials prosecuted 16 members of the Basque separatist organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) for their involvement in two murders of police officers in 1968. Causing international outrage and sympathy for the defendants, the trials are best known for six death sentences handed out by the tribunals which were later commuted to lengthy prison spells.

Burgos trials
Court	Military tribunals in Burgos
Decided	28 December 1970
Case history
Subsequent action(s)	Six death sentences, later commuted to 30 years in prison
Keywords
terrorism Basque nationalism separatism torture show trial

Widespread popular support for the defendants among the Basque public manifested itself in the weeks leading up to the trial. A labour strike by around 100,000 Basque workers and the kidnapping by ETA of a German honorary consul contributed to the significant media attention around the trials. In their statements, the defendants sought to portray their organisation as an advocate of the working classes. They also detailed incidents of torture they had experienced in prison.

On 28 December, the tribunals found all defendants guilty of the crimes of which they were accused. Six of them were sentenced to death. However, reacting to international pressure, the Spanish caudillo Francisco Franco commuted the sentences to lengthy prison spells. Sparking condemnations from public figures including Pope Paul VI and Jean-Paul Sartre, the Burgos trials gained notoriety for being "one of the last occasions on which political prisoners were sentenced to [death]." [1]

Murders of 1968

The trial at Burgos was in part a reaction to ETA's first known murders, committed in 1968. The first incident occurred on 7 June of that year when two of the organisation's members, Txabi Etxebarrieta and Iñaki Sarasketa were stopped by a traffic control near Amasa-Villabona. When prompted to present the car documents by José Pardines, one of the controlling police officers, Etxebarrieta opened fire and killed the officer. On the same day, the men were again stopped by police near Tolosa. Sarasketa was arrested while Etxebarrieta was killed in retaliation for the murder of Pardines. The extrajudicial killing of Etxebarrieta elicited widespread outrage among the Basque populace.[2]

Two months later, on 2 August 1968, ETA committed its first premeditated murder by assassinating Melitón Manzanas,[3] local commander of the Brigada Político-Social accused of torturing Basque detainees, at his residence in San Sebastián. Intended as a retaliation for the death of Etxebarrieta, the murder provoked a harsh reaction from the Spanish authorities: constitutional rights for the province of Gipuzkoa were suspended and by the end of the year many members of ETA had been arrested.[2]

Buildup to the trial

In August 1970, the Spanish government resolved to hold a military tribunal whose task it was to convict the members of the ETA involved in the crimes of the preceding years. 16 people were accused of complicity in the crimes. For Jokin Gorostidi, Onaindia Izko, Unai Dorronsoro and his wife Loren the prosecution demanded the death penalty due to their alleged leadership in the murder of Melitón Manzanas. For the other defendants, they demanded prison sentences of between 12 and 70 years.[4]

The government had intended for the trial to mark the destruction of ETA. Since most of the organisation's leaders had been arrested, the military leadership anticipated a highly publicised victory of the state against an isolated group of insurgents. However, widespread popular support for the defendants among the Basque public manifested itself in the weeks leading up to the trial. This sentiment was aided by ETA's efforts to distribute pamphlets and other tokens of protest against the trial.[5] By the time of the trial, about 100,000 workers in the cities of the Basque Country were on strike.[6] The situation had escalated to such an extent that the government was forced to enact a state of emergency for the province of Gipuzkoa.[7]

Up until its beginning, ETA tried to compromise the trial through paramilitary action. A tunnel that had been dug underneath the prison in which the defendants were held failed to break through a concrete wall.[8] On the other hand, efforts to kidnap the West-German honorary consul Eugen Beihl were successful. While ETA demanded that all planned death penalties be commuted, they eventually released Beihl after 25 days without a clear indication that their demands would be met.[9]

The trial

Gregorio Peces-Barba, one of the defence's attorneys

The planned military tribunal was convened in the northwestern city of Burgos in Castile and León on 3 December 1970.[10] In a bid to showcase its new internationalist attitude, ETA hired a group of prominent left-leaning lawyers. They included the future co-author of the Spanish constitution Gregorio Peces-Barba, the political theorist José Antonio Etxebarrieta, and the future senator Juan María Bandrés.[11] The defence's strategy was to use the highly publicised trial as a platform for criticism of the regime of Francisco Franco and its oppression of dissenters and ethnic minorities.[12]

During its first four days, the trial heard statements from the defendants, portraying themselves as proponents of a Marxist–Leninist agenda. Many of them claimed not to represent the Basque people, but the working classes in their struggle against an oppressive oligarchy. Their statements pointed away from the radical nationalism more commonly associated with ETA and towards a more benign form of proletarian internationalism.[13] They also recounted incidents of torture experienced at the hands of the Spanish military police.[14] According to historian Luis Castells, the trials thus became "a milestone in the anti-Franco struggle", generating "an unreleased mobilization in the Basque Country, in Spain and internationally".[15]

On December 7, the trial was interrupted because one of the presiding officers had fallen ill. When proceedings resumed the following day, the tribunal adopted a more rigid approach, suppressing statements not related to the accessions in order to prevent further digressions by the defendants. In response, most of them exercised their right to remain silent. However, the final defendant to speak, Mario Onaindia attempted to attack the tribunal with an axe. Order was restored immediately, but the incident became subject to significant foreign media coverage.[16]

The verdict

After proceedings had ended on 9 December, the tribunal took several days to deliberate and announced its verdict on 28 December.[2] All the prosecution's demands were granted: six defendants were given death penalties, three of which were awarded a symbolic second execution.[2] The remaining defendants were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. However, domestic and international observers, including the Vatican, criticised the Spanish government for what was perceived as an exceedingly harsh judgement. On 30 December, Franco commuted all death penalties to prison sentences of 30 years.[2][17]

Aftermath

Juan Paredes Manot and Ángel Otaegui were executed five years after the Burgos trials.

The Burgos trials turned out to be a debacle for the Spanish government. ETA, a separatist organisation of little relevance outside Spain before the trial, became a symbol for the opposition against Francoist Spain for the international public.[18] The group began to attract support from civil society, including the Basque Nationalist Party, the Spanish Communist Party and the Catholic Church.[19] Franco's decision to commute the proposed death penalties was greeted with relief by the international community. The Holy See was reported to have received the news "with particular satisfaction" after Pope Paul VI had advocated for the defendants' lives.[17] The trials nevertheless gained notoriety for being "one of the last occasions on which political prisoners were sentenced to death."[20] In the preface to a book (Le procès de Burgos) published soon after the events,[21] the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre praised the defendants for showcasing the predicament of the Basque people to the world.[19]

In the decade following the trials, ETA continued its attacks on public sector targets. In December 1973, the group planted a bomb that would kill Luis Carrero Blanco, the Prime Minister of Spain and likely successor to Franco.[3] The following year, its members caused an explosion at a Madrid bar frequently visited by police officers, killing at least 12 people.[3] In spite of the condemnation of the Burgos trials, a similar trial was held against two members of ETA in September 1975, resulting in the execution of Juan Paredes Manot and Ángel Otaegui. Theirs were the last use of capital punishment in Spain.[22]

Bibliography

• Casanova, Iker (2007). ETA: 1958–2008. Medio siglo de historia. Tafalla. ISBN 978-8481365078.
• Halimi, Gisele (1971). Le procès de Burgos. Paris. ISBN 978-2070279487.
• Muro, Diego (2013). Ethnicity and Violence: The Case of Radical Basque Nationalism. New York. ISBN 9781134167692.
• Sullivan, John (2015). ETA and Basque Nationalism. New York. ISBN 9781317479604.

References

1. Nash, Elizabeth (8 September 2003). "Obituary – Mario Onainda".
2. Muro 2013, p. 105.
3. "Timeline: Eta". The Guardian. 11 March 2004.
4. Casanova 2007, pp. 117–8.
5. Casanova 2007, pp. 118–9.
6. "Trial of Basques Starts in Burgos". New York Times. 4 December 1970.
7. Sullivan 2015, p. 94.
8. Casanova 2007, p. 119.
9. "West German Freed by Basques, Tells of Captivity". New York Times. 26 December 1970.
10. Sullivan 2015, p. 92.
11. Sullivan 2015, p. 95.
12. Sullivan 2015, pp. 95–6.
13. Sullivan 2015, pp. 95–7.
14. Sullivan 2015, p. 98.
15. "The Burgos process favored anti-Francoism, but also propelled ETA". CE NoticiasFinancieras. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
16. Sullivan 2015, pp. 98–9.
17. "Franco commutes death sentences for six Basques". New York Times. 31 December 1970.
18. "ETA's 50 years leave a bloody legacy". El País. 30 July 2009.
19. Muro 2013, p. 106.
20. Nash, Elizabeth (8 September 2003). "Obituary – Mario Onainda".
21. Halimi 1971, preface.
22. "Mañana, primer aniversario de las últimas penas de muerte ejecutadas en España". El País. 26 September 1976.