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BARCELONA - The fate of Inaki de Juana Chaos, a Basque terrorist who served 18 years for 25 murders, was hanging in the balance yesterday as he appeared near to death after 93 days on hunger strike.
For Basque nationalists, his treatment by the Spanish state is a travesty unworthy of a democracy. On the point of release from jail last year, de Juana Chaos was suddenly sentenced to 12 more years for two rambling articles he had written for a Basque newspaper.
If he dies, he will become a martyr for the Basque separatists and probably unleash a fresh round of bombings. But if the Spanish Government shows leniency with such a hated Eta figurehead, it may plunge the socialists into their deepest crisis yet.
De Juana Chaos, the former head of the so-called "Madrid commando", started his hunger strike after being convicted of making terrorist threats. Though he had been sentenced to 3000 years behind bars, he served 18 years and expected to be released.
- INDEPENDENT
