Spanish PM: ETA's exit won't make its crimes 'disappear'

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Thursday the disbandment of the Basque separatist group ETA won't make its decades of violence disappear.

ETA, considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, announced it would disband after more than a half-century -- during which more than 800 people died amid its campaign of violence.

The group apologized last month for the violence, saying it accepts "direct responsibility" for years of bloodshed -- and asked for forgiveness for deaths of victims who had no "direct participation in the conflict."

Thursday, Rajoy said the ETA won't "find any loophole" to receive impunity for its crimes.

"ETA can announce his disappearance but neither his crimes nor the action of justice to persecute and punish them disappear," Rajoy said.

The Spanish premier said it was clear the group has been "defeated by the action of the rule of law and the strength of Spanish democracy."
 (UPI)
 3/5/18
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• Basque militants ETA surrender arms in end to decades of conflict
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