Atutxa, Knörr and Bilbao appeal against the sentence

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Kontxi Bilbao and Juan María Atutxa. Foto: EFE

The lawyers for the defense of the former members of Basque Parliament Board Juan María Atutxa (PNV), Gorka Knörr (EA) and Kontxi Bilbao (EB) will appeal against the court ruling that sentenced them to be barred from public office and to pay an amount of money.

Spain’s High Court announced April 16 the sentence that condemned the former President of Basque Parliament Juan Maria Atutxa and the two parliamentary board members Gorka Knörr and Kontxi Bilbao for disobeying a Supreme Court ruling. The sentence was revealed almost three months after it was first made public.

Following the sentence, Atutxa was suspended from public office for 18 months and must pay 18,000-euro fine. The two parliamentary board members Gorka Knörr and Kontxi Bilbao were barred from public office for one year and must pay 12,000 euros.

Juan María Atutxa, Gorka Knörr and Kontxi Bilbao, the three former members of the board of the Basque parliament, were found guilty of disobeying a Supreme Court ruling when they refused to try and dissolve the leftist party Sozialista Albertzaleak in the Basque parliament in November 2003.

The case dates back to an appeal of the right-wing organization “Manos Limpias”. Atutxa, Knörr and Bilbao were first tried by the High Court of Justice in the Basque Country and found not guilty in January 2007. The Basque court agreed with their defence that their jurisdiction in the matter was far from clear.

Atutxa said he never said ‘no’ to the Supreme Court, but based his opposition to following their request on a report published by the ex Attourney General, Jesús Cardenal in November 2002, which said that the dissolution of a political party was the responsibility of the legislative chambers.

“Manos Limpias” group made an immediate appeal against the sentence.