The Spanish supreme court has ruled that the trial of leaders of the political front of ETA, suspended minutes before its start yesterday morning, can go ahead later this week.
Lawyers representing the 23 people who lead the organisation, Herri Batasuna, called for the suspension of the case on the grounds that one of the presiding judges was not impartial because his daughter works for the National Police. The court disallowed their objection.
The 20 men and three women who make up the Herri Batasuna executive committee are accused of collaborating with the terrorist group, after they distributed a proETA film as part of their 1996 general election campaign.
The 20-minute video clip showed two masked and armed men calling for "the withdrawal of the Spanish armed forces from the Basque Country and for an unconditional general amnesty".
This is the first time that so many senior members of the separatist organisation have stood trial, and if found guilty they could face up to eight years in jail.
These individuals were elected to the executive committee of HB in 1995. Since then ETA has planned or carried out many of its most spectacular crimes including the car bomb attack on the current Prime Minister, Mr Jose Maria Aznar, then in opposition, and the aborted assassination attempt on King Juan Carlos.
The HB leaders have failed consistently to condemn any of ETA's terrorist attacks, in spite of massive public outrage, such as the six million Spanish who demonstrated against ETA after the kidnap and murder of a young Basque politician last Summer.
A Belfast Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Alex Maskey, is one of the 15 international observers attending the trial. Mr Maskey said that Sinn Fein and HB have for many years had strong ties, and that he hopes to be called as a character witness for the accused. "Our understanding is that HB has long been committed to achieving a peaceful solution to the Basque conflict," he said.