Alleged separatist gets 30 years in attempted murder
A man alleged to head commando units for the Basque separatist group ETA was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison by a French court.
Ibon Fernandez de Iradi was found guilty of trying to kill a French police officer on patrol in the city of Pau in November 2001.
The officer, Gerard Larroude, survived despite eight bullet wounds in the head and throat.
The court sentenced Fernandez de Iradi’s accomplice, Antonio Agustin Figal Arranz, to 10 years in prison.
ETA, which stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom in the Basque language, has been fighting to create an independent state for Basques in northern Spain and southwestern France since the late 1960s. Its bombs and shootings have claimed more than 800 lives.
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