Costa Blanca

ETA member who was accused of planting a bomb at Alicante airport acquitted

Iratxe Sorzábal, a former commander of the ETA, has been acquitted by the National Court of the charge of placing an explosive device at the Alicante-Elche airport. Tedax deactivated the device, and the prosecution requested a six-year penitentiary sentence for the unsuccessful attack.

The primary piece of evidence was a handwritten letter that the Public Prosecutor’s Office attributes to Iratxe Sorzábal. The letter acknowledges the facts. The sentence states that the authorities issued a handwriting expert report that analysed several documents discovered in France, including the “kantada” that was attributed to the defendant. The Chamber further states that “this handwriting expert report, dated May 20, 2008, was ratified in the investigation phase before the Court; however, the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not propose it as evidence subsequently.” Consequently, the court emphasises that this discrepancy was the result of the absence of substantiation for a critical piece of information, namely the authorship report.

The court stated that it cannot be regarded as evidence against the defendant because it was not brought to trial and has not been subjected to a contradiction between the parties.

The court also considered the fact that Iratxe Sorzábal’s defence had explicitly challenged the report, claiming that she did not recognise the document as her own and had not written it.

The court also underscores that the authors of the police intelligence report, which analysed the existence and components of ETA’s Ibarla commando, its activities, and the details of the assaults it committed, were not proposed to testify at the trial. The existence and components of ETA’s Ibarla commando were analysed in this report, which was compared to documents discovered in France.

The ruling cautions that the report could have provided insight into the potential authorship of the explosives placed at the Alicante airport, in contrast to the defendant’s denial of any involvement.

Iratxe Sorzábal, who served her initial sentence in France in the late 1990s for her involvement with ETA, was extradited to Spain in 2001. Despite her efforts to avert the extradition through a hunger strike, which she defended by citing the potential for mistreatment by Spanish law enforcement, she was extradited.

Following her release in September 2001, she re-entered ETA and was apprehended in 2015 in France, this time in the company of erstwhile ETA leader David Pla.

For the first time in Spain, she was sentenced to 24 and a half years in prison in 2022 for a double assault that occurred in November 1996 in Gijón, targeting the Palace of Justice and a pharmacy.

The National Court reopened the investigation into the 1996 murder of Montxo Doral, a non-commissioned officer of Ertzaintza. The Basque Autonomous Police have attributed the crime to a commando unit under the command of Sorzabal.

In June 2006, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced her in absence to three years in prison for her membership in ETA’s political apparatus. She was again sentenced in her absence in 2013 at the trial in which her daughter’s father, former ETA leader Mikel Carrera Sarobe Ata, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of two Guardia Civil officers in Capbreton in 2007.

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Related Topics:Airport Alicante Assault Attack Court Crime Documents Elche Murder National Police Public Spain Strike

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Paraglider injured after bad landing in Parcent, north of Altea

A 38-year-old male sustained injuries yesterday, Saturday April 5th, as a result of an accident that occurred during the landing of a paraglider in the Camí del Barranquet area of Parcent, about 40 kms north of Altea.

The Alicante Provincial Fire Consortium promptly mobilised a rescue helicopter (Alpha 01) and members of the Special Rescue Group (GER) upon receiving the alert.

The victim sustained severe back pain and multiple injuries, according to Consortium sources. In order to continue with his evacuation, it was necessary to conduct a helicopter rescue due to the challenge of accessing the site.

The victim was transported to the San Vicente Fire Station, where he was transported to the Alicante General Hospital for additional medical evaluation and treatment by ambulance.

The emergency teams’ prompt response enabled the safe execution of the rescue, thereby reducing the time necessary for medical assistance to be administered to the injured individual.

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El Palmeral Park in Alicante will be closed for a week

El Palmeral Park in Alicante will be closed from Monday, April 7th to Friday, April 11th, Alicante council has announced. Renovation work that has been ongoing for months is being finalised.

In order to finalise all tasks and ensure that the park is prepared for its reopening, they will implement a temporary closure. The council has stated that upon its restoration, a more comprehensive and accessible space will be provided for the enjoyment of all ages.

The works are a component of a project that commenced in 2021, despite the numerous obstacles that have arisen along the way, including changes in the company, deadline extensions, and budget adjustments. However, the conclusion is imminent, and tangible enhancements are imminent.

These are some of the primary new features that are being integrated into the park:

Four expansive facilities that are inclusive, ensuring that all children can participate, irrespective of their capabilities.
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Two new callisthenics spaces have been established to facilitate outdoor training without the necessity of a gym.
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There are five picnic areas, which makes it an excellent option to dine in the park once more.
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The pier, access sites, and roads have been renovated due to their significant deterioration.
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A new water collection and chlorination system has been installed in the canals and lakes, which have been renovated.
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Enhanced verdant spaces, including additional shade and new vegetation.
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All of this was accomplished with an investment of over 800,000 euros in one of the most frequently visited areas in the southern region of the city.

Saturday, April 12th, is the intended date for the reopening. If all proceeds according to plan, El Palmeral Park in Alicante will reopen with all of these improvements completed and accessible to the public.

Therefore, it will be necessary to wait for a few days. However, it is time to revisit this verdant area and uncover a new perspective: one that is more contemporary, more comfortable, and offers a plethora of opportunities for spending the day.

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Man arrested for fraud, document forgery and burglary in Elche

In Elche (Alicante), a 34-year-old man has been apprehended for allegedly destroying the key safe of a tourist flat in order to defraud numerous individuals who were interested in renting it through an advertisement website.

The arrested individual is purported to have forced open the keysafe of the tourist flat in the La Hoya district of Elche in order to enter and change the lock, according to investigative sources. He subsequently posted a fraudulent advertisement on a website, assuming the identity of the owner, and showed the interior to potential clients.

A woman reported that she had booked the vacation rental through the aforementioned listing website and was shown the interior of the house by the alleged proprietor.

When the time came to move in, she paid €1,350. However, the door would not open when she attempted to use the keys. Then, an additional complaint was received from a victim who had reserved the same property through the online portal and had paid a total of €600. They too were unable to gain entry.

The suspect had been previously arrested for the same offences at the same vacation property in La Hoya, for a prior fraud of 3,350 euros, according to police investigations.

The National Police apprehended him for two alleged offences of fraud: falsifying documents and robbery with force, as he presented himself with an identity on each occasion.