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DocFilm - The Row over ETA Prisoners - A Difficult Reconciliation in the Basque Country

August 10, 2019

The Basque terrorist organization ETA is a thing of the past. But be they behind bars or walking around in freedom, the treatment of former ETA members is controversial and divisive.

https://p.dw.com/p/3Ngtz

ETA waged a violent struggle for an independent Basque country for over 50 years, killing more than 800 people in the process before finally disbanding in May 2018. But what has become of ETA’s former members and supporters now that it no longer exists? Two hundred and twenty one of them are currently still in prisons across Spain and their families are demanding their transfer to jails in the Basque Country itself. But that would only be the first stage: They are also calling for their release in the foreseeable future. But many victims of ETA violence are against any relaxation of prison conditions even if the organization is now defunct. At the same time, however, more and more prisoners are returning to society after serving their sentences. In the Basque Country, with its nearly 2.2 million inhabitants, they often end up living next door to people who suffered in ETA’s terror campaign. This documentary poses the question: What future peaceful coexistence?