Former ETA member Otegi: deadly violence ‘should never have happened’

The leader of a Basque nationalist party and former ETA member Arnaldo Otegi on Monday said the violence the Basque terrorist group used in its bid to attain independence “should never have happened.”

Otegi spoke ahead of the 10th anniversary of Eta’s decision to abandon its armed campaign after four decades of deadly violence in which over 800 people were killed, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.

“Today, we want to make a specific mention to the victims caused by the violence of ETA,” he said.

“We want to convey to them our sorrow and pain for the feelings they have suffered. We feel their pain, and from that sincere feeling we affirm that it should never have happened, no one can be satisfied that all that happened, nor that it had been so long in time,” the former ETA member said.

Otegi, who joined the ETA as a teenager and was convicted for kidnapping, was one of the key negotiators in peace talks and played a central role in convincing the group to end the armed campaign.

But despite it not being the first time the politician expresses empathy for the victims of the ETA, he remains a reminder of the bloodshed for many Spaniards.

“We want to tell them (the victims) from the bottom of our hearts that we are extremely sorry for their suffering and we commit ourselves to try to mitigate it as much as we can,” he said, adding that nothing he could say would “undo the damage caused” but at least “alleviate” the pain with respect and memory.

Three years ago, ETA asked for forgiveness from the victims and families affected by the violence and announced its dissolution.

(EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)