Parliament set for court over Batasuna cash

Date: 28/05/03

By David Cronin

THE European Parliament is expected to be a civil party in a case arising from the discovery by police of €200,000 from an MEP's bank account in his party treasurer's car.

The sum was withdrawn from Basque deputy Koldo Gorostiaga's account in

Brussels with his permission. At the time, he stated that the money was taken by Jon

Gorrotxategi, treasurer of the now banned Batasuna party, in "a very innocent way" and that the sum represented savings from his Parliamentary salary and allowances.

Gorrotxategi was stopped by police with another man on the Franco-Belgian border in March 2002.

The French authorities were not satisfied with his explanation about the €200,000 and he now faces a hearing in a Paris court

Pat Cox, the Parliament's president, has written to Romano Prodi, the European Commission chief, asking for a mandate to represent the EU in the trial.

His request is based on Article 85 of the French penal code, which gives those claiming to be an injured party in an alleged crime the possibility of being a civil party in proceedings.

Cox believes that the use of the money by Gorostiaga "could not be justified" by the transmission of "appropriate accounting records". He says that the funds concerned come from the EU budget and that the "injured party" is, therefore, the Union.

Spain's supreme court upheld a ban on Batasuna in August 2002.

The party is the political wing of paramilitary group ETA, which has killed more than 800 people in three decades of its 'armed struggle' for Basque independence.

Batasuna had commanded some 10 of the vote in north-west Spain's Basque country.