1,500 years for Basque bombers [That's a mighty long time....]

CNN ^ | Wednesday, July 9, 2003 Posted: 11:57 AM EDT (1557 GMT) | Associated Press

[yonif]

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- A court on Wednesday convicted two Basque separatists of murder and sentenced them to more than 1,500 years in jail each for a 1986 car bombing that killed 12 police and injured 77, one of Spain's bloodiest attacks ever.

[wideawake]

Under Spanish law, the maximum time they can actually serve is 30 years.

Law enforcement in Europe is absolutely toothless.

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[ibbryn]

killed 12 police and injured 77, one of Spain's bloodiest attacks ever, only got 30 years.
The bombers probabley think that's an acceptible price to pay.

[vbmoneyspender]

Ain't Europe grand? They are so sophisticated and intelligent over there that I always check with a European before I do anything of consequence.

[sanchmo]

That's exactly the problem - they kill and main dozens, and their punishment is to become a propaganda tool for a generation for ETA - continuing to cry "torture" and "abuse" and have their photos plastered all over Basque towns as "victims of the spanish oppression."

1500 years is such an absurdity. That's basically the system saying "I wish we still had the death penalty."

[Servant of the Nine]

... an accumulated 1,920 years ... Under Spanish law, the maximum time they can actually serve is 30 years.

And I thought our system was pathetic. That is 1.5% of sentance to be actually served.

SO9

[Tacis]

The absence of the death penalty for these guys GUARANTEES that within the next 5 to 10 years there will be a major prison break in which another 10 people will die or terrorist attack in which some terrible act will take place if these two are not released.

It is the lesson we fail to see with Pollard. These organizations have to provide some degree of organizational support and hope for those individuals who take major risks. Other Israeli spies in the US and ETA terrorists in Spain like to know that they will get support if they, too, are caught.

[wideawake]

Without wanting to start yet another Pollard thread I will say yes: the lack of the death penalty gives the ETA hope that the next elections will bring a Socialist government willing to engage in "constructive dialogue" with the ETA and to "provide amnesty to political prisoners" as a sign of good faith.