Spain versus the Radicals - by ENRIQUE ZALDUA/SAN SEBASTIAN
Since June, Spanish authorities (in concerted action with French counterparts across the border) have scaled up their anti-terrorist operations and moved aggressively against ETA and Batasuna. Earlier this week, Spanish authorities arrested two other Batasuna leaders. Arnaldo Otegi, the group's main spokesperson was jailed on June 8 to serve a 15-month sentence for participating in a tribute to an ETA activist killed in 1978 by a fascist paramilitary group.
The Socialist Government denies it is directing the reinvigorated police activity, insisting that it is a law-enforcement action, not a politically motivated one. ""The Judicial branch acts independently and the Government does not tell the judges what to do", José Antonio Pastor, the Basque Socialist Party speaker at the Basque Parliament, told TIME. "[This operation] is not an instrumental action by the Government".
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