Basque pair arrested with MEP’s 200,000 euro

Date: 28/03/02

By David Cronin

A BASQUE MEP says he is seeking an explanation for why two party colleagues decided to drive from Brussels to Spain last weekend with more than €200,000 in cash they had withdrawn from his bank account.

The two men, Jon Gorrotxategui and Mikel Corcuera, were arrested close to the Franco-Belgian border last Friday (22 March). Gorrotxategui is the treasurer for Herri Batasuna, the political wing of paramilitary group ETA.

Although the pair were released on Tuesday evening, French judge Laurence Le Vert has opened an investigation into allegations that they were conspiring to aid terrorism.

The party's sole MEP, Koldo Gorostiaga, has acknowledged that the €200,300 came from his account in the European Parliament. He suspects bank officials tipped off the police about the withdrawal.

Gorostiaga told European Voice yesterday (27 March) he had not yet had an opportunity to talk with the two men.

He hopes to speak to them today and will be asking them to state why they decided to travel with such a large sum. He was satisfied, though, that they had taken out the money in a 'very innocent way'.

The MEP said he lives on two-thirds of his salary, donating the remainder and his parliamentary allowances to Herri Batasuna's political activities.

He has authorised two colleagues to handle a Brussels account jointly held in his and the party's name. 'I have no time to administer the money myself,' he said.

'But I have full confidence that the money is well administered.'

Two other Spanish MEPs have asked the Parliament's highest internal body - its bureau - to investigate if Gorostiaga has complied with the assembly's rules. Gerardo Galeote and Rosa Díez contend that payments for office expenditure should not be used to help political campaigns. Their request is expected to be examined by the bureau at its 8 April meeting. One Spanish official also queried how Gorostiaga could have amassed the €200,000 since his election in mid-1999: 'If he can earn that amount, he should explain it because he must be a magician of finances,' he said.

The arrests, claimed Gorostiaga, would 'not help' efforts to achieve an end to the decades-old conflict affecting the Basque country. Spain's ruling Popular Party has recently devised plans to outlaw Herri Batasuna because of its ETA links. But its leaders insist that it is a legitimate political organisation, separate from ETA.

Gorostiaga contrasted attempts by Spain to 'criminalise' Herri Batasuna with its support for the Union's policy of berating Turkey's restrictions on Kurd politicians. 'How can we accept that the president of the EU's Council is giving good lessons on democracy to Turkey?' he asked.