Maria Angeles Beitialarrangoitia Lizarralde (born 20 January 1968) is a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

journalist and politician. She was previously a member of the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament (Basque language, Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected ...

, and mayor of Hernani.

Early life and education

Beitialarrangoitia was born on 20 January 1968 in Legazpia, Basque Country. She has degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

from the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

Career

Beitialarrangoitia worked for the ''Hots'' magazine and Hoska radio station in her youth. Later she worked at the Egin Irratia radio station, part of the ''

Egin Egin may refer to: * ''Egin'' (newspaper), a defunct bilingual Basque-Spanish newspaper * Eğin, the name for the town of Kemaliye, Turkey, until about 1923 * Egin, Idaho, United States, an unincorporated community * Yuri Egin, an anime-only cha ...

'' newspaper group. She moved to Hernani which was the base for the radio station and newspaper. In July 1998 judge

Baltasar Garzón Baltasar Garzón Real (; born 26 October 1955) is a Spanish former judge in Spain's central criminal court, the '' Audiencia Nacional'' responsible for investigation the most serious criminal cases, including terrorism, organised crime, crimes ...

ordered the closure of both media outlets because of their alleged links to the

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

. Beitialarrangoitia became active on groups, such as Gestoras pro Amnistía, supporting the release of ETA prisoners. Beitialarrangoitia then joined

EITB Euskal Irrati Telebista (; ; acronym EITB, branded eitb) is the Basque Autonomous Community's public broadcast service, which broadcasts throughout the Basque Country. Its main brand is Euskal Telebista (ETB, Basque Television). EITB is the l ...

, the Basque

public broadcaster Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

, where she worked as an announcer on a morning show on the Euskadi Irratia radio station. She contested the 2007 local elections as a

Basque Nationalist Action Basque Nationalist Action (, , EAE–ANV) is a Basque nationalist party based in Spain. Founded in 1930, it was the first Basque nationalist political party to exist running on a socialist program. On 16 September 2008, the party was outlawed by ...

(Eusko Abertzale Ekintza, EAE) candidate in Hernani and was elected. She was mayor of Hernani from 2007 to 2011. On 12 January 2008, at an EAE rally in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

, Beitialarrangoitia requested applause for ETA members Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola. A few days earlier Portu and Sarasola has been arrested in connection with the

2006 Madrid–Barajas Airport bombing 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

and been

tortured Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions restrict torture to ac ...

by the Civil Guard. In June 2009 the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; ) is a high court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in certain kinds of crime, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those committed against the Crown and i ...

convicted Beitialarrangoitia of "supporting terrorism" and sentenced her to one year in prison and barred her from holding public office for seven years. She was acquitted of the more serious crime of insulting the security forces by accusing the Civil Guard of torture. Beitialarrangoitia appealed to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

who overturned the guilty verdict in March 2010. In December 2010 four Civil Guard officers - Juan Jesús Casas, José Manuel Escamilla, Sergio García and Sergio Martínez - were convicted of torturing Portu and Sarasola. The EAE was banned in 2008 for being the successor of

Batasuna Batasuna (; ) was a Basque nationalist political party. Based mainly in Spain, it was banned in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money. The party is included in the "European Union list of ...

but as the ban wasn't retroactive Beitialarrangoitia continued to hold office. In 2008 Garzón investigated Beitialarrangoitia for continuing EAE's activities. She was also accused of "exalting terrorism" after naming a park in Hernani after Jose Ariztimuño but judge

Fernando Grande-Marlaska Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez (; born 26 July 1962) is a Spanish judge and politician who has served as minister of the Interior since June 2018. An independent politician close to the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, he has been Member of th ...

acquitted her of the charge after she agreed to rename the park. She played a key role in the formation of the

Amaiur Amaiur was a left-wing Basque nationalist and separatist political coalition from the Basque Country and Navarre. The name of the coalition comes from the fortress of Amaiur in Navarre, which was one of the last Basque strongholds during the ...

and

Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu (English language, English: 'Basque Country Gather' or 'Basque Country Unite'), is a Left-wing politics, left-wing, Basque nationalism, Basque nationalist and Separatism, pro-independence federation of poli ...

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

s. She did not seek re-election at the 2011 local elections. She was communication director for the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council from 2011 to 2012. Beitialarrangoitia is a member of

Sortu Sortu () is a Basque people, Basque socialist political party. Founded in February 2011, it is the first political party belonging to the Basque nationalism, Basque nationalist "abertzale left" that openly rejects any kind of political violence. B ...

and in January 2017 she was elected to the party's national council. She contested the 2012 regional election as an

EH Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu (English language, English: 'Basque Country Gather' or 'Basque Country Unite'), is a Left-wing politics, left-wing, Basque nationalism, Basque nationalist and Separatism, pro-independence federation of poli ...

electoral alliance candidate in the

Province of Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantique ...

and was elected to the

. She contested the 2015 general election as an EH Bildu candidate in the

and was elected to the

. She was re-elected at the 2016 general election.

Electoral history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beitialarrangoitia, Marian 1968 births Basque journalists Basque Nationalist Action politicians Basque prisoners and detainees Basque women in politics EH Bildu politicians Living people Mayors of places in the Basque Country Members of the 10th Basque Parliament Members of the 11th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 12th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Hernani Prisoners and detainees of Spain Sortu politicians University of the Basque Country alumni Women mayors of places in Spain Women members of the Basque Parliament Women members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Urola Garaia