Arnaldo Otegi
Arnaldo Otegi (b. 6 July 1958) is a Basque nationalist politician, and is a spokesperson for the Basque nationalist party Batasuna, which was illigalised in 2003. He has been accused of membership of ETA, and was at one time a member. He has stated that he agrees with the aims of ETA, but disagrees with the means employed by ETA with regard to these ends, namely violence. He remains, however, a deeply controversial figure in Spain.
Biography
Otegi was born July 6, 1958 in Elgoibar, (Gipuzkoa), in the semi-autonomous Basque region of Euskadi, in northern Spain. He holds a university degree in Philosophy and Literature, and is married with two children.
Between 1977 and 1989 he was actively involved in several paramilitary operations conducted by ETA. On 21st February 1989 he was found of guilty of kidnapping and sentenced to six years in jail. In October 1990 he was released after having fulfilled half of his sentence. He decided to change the approach through which he could effect the change he desired, and on September 27, 1995, he entered the arena of legitimate politics, becoming an MP for the political party Herri Batasuna. In November 1997 the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced several senior members of Herri Batasuna to seven years in jail, due to alledged involvement with ETA, and in the resulting power vacuum, Joseba Permach and Otegi were chosen to lead the new provisional leadership of Herri Batasuna.
In September 12, 1998 Otegi was a key member in the formation of the "Declaration of Estella/Lizarra", which proposed to solve the Basque conflict by beginning a process of dialogue between all parties concerned. This marked a profound change in Otegi's style, and appeared to show him renouncing his former violent ways. In the Basque elections of October 25 1998 he was a candidate for the party Euskal Herritarrok, which had replaced Herri Batasuna, representing the region of Gipuzkoa. The Lizarra-Garazi agreements, which resulted in an ETA truce at that time, helped give Euskal Herritarrok their best results for 10 years, and they became the 3rd largest political party in the Basque Country and the adjacent region of Navarra.
However, the controversy that has persued Otegi throughout his career remained present. In August 2000, a senior court in the Basque country accused him of justifying terrorism, and Otegi continued to be viwed as a terrorist by public judicial institutions, and established himself as a hate-figure for Spanish nationalists. In May 2005 he was put on trial for membership of the armed seperatist group ETA, and posted bail for €400,000, money which, it has been alleged, was raised by ETA by a series of extortions. He was also sentenced to a year in prison for allegedly insulting King Juan Carlos I of Spain, accusing him of being a "head torturer", referring to the accusations of torture still being practised on Basque prisoners by the Spanish Civil Guard; no-one has, to date, been found guilty of torture on Basque prisoners by Spanish courts.
Although not currently incarcerated, Otegi still has several lawsuits pending, and remains a very controversial figure for his refusal to condemn ETA's armed campaign and his alledged continued membership of ETA. He also retains his political involvement with Batasuna, the lastest incarnation of Euskal Herritarrok. With the turmoil in the Basque country as yet unresolved, Otegi is sure to remain a well-known and controversial politician for some time to come.