Spanish national court reviews Altsasu youngsters’ sentence

A hearing was held at the Spanish national court yesterday to review the sentence issued against eight young Altsasu (Navarre) locals by the court last June. In June the national court gave the young people prison sentences of two to 13 years for a bar-brawl involving two off-duty members of the civil guard and their partners in October 2016.

The case sparked a wave of indignation and solidarity all over the Basque country and Catalonia, as both the sentences and the accusations were deemed excessive. Six new witnesses brought by the defence, who had not been allowed to testify last June, told the court yesterday that three of the defendants were either not at the bar or had not assaulted anyone.

The sentence was reviewed at the request of both defence and public prosecutor, who is asking for a total of 62 years in prison, interpreting the crime as “terrorist”, and linking it to ETA: it will be interesting to see whether or not the court accepts the terrorism charges, which were rejected in June (although the occurrences were deemed “particularly serious”). At the previous trial the young people were charged with crimes against authority, injuries, public disorder and making threats. All that remains is to wait for the verdict on yesterday’s case, which should come out in the coming months.