Askatasuna (from the Basque word meaning "Freedom") is a Basque political party registered on 31 August 1998, outlawed in 2009 by the Audiencia Nacional under the 2002 Political Parties Law.

History

In 1998 several notable events occurred around the Basque nationalist left: the ''National Table'' of

Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; en, Popular Unity; HB) was a far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale, left-wing, socialist, and supported the independence of the Greater Basque Country. It was r ...

was jailed, the Pact of Estella was signed,

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

declared an indefinite truce and the electoral coalition Euskal Herritarrok presented itself to the Basque elections of the same year. Askatasuna was created that year by a small group of members of the

Ezker abertzalea Abertzale left ( eu, Ezker abertzalea, es, Izquierda abertzale; ) is a term used to refer to the parties or organizations of the Basque nationalist/separatist left, stretching from democratic socialism to communism. This leftist character is ...

that feared the banning of the other political parties and organizations of the Basque national movement. Three years later, in May 2001, with a different situation since

had returned to commit deadly attacks, Askatasuna presented lists to the Basque elections in the three provinces. Askatasuna barely campaigned and won a very meager percentage of votes (0.05%). A month later, in June 2001, Euskal Herritarrok and

created a new political party,

Batasuna Batasuna (; en, Unity) 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 ...

, which in March 2003 was outlawed by the Supreme Court according to a new law on political parties, that allowed the banning of those political parties that were ''against the democratic regime of liberties'', supported violence and/or activities of terrorist groups. Despite the outlawing of

, Askatasuna continued to appear in the register of political parties and was in all respects a legal political formation, although since 2001 had not had any activity. This led some politicians and media communications analysts suggest that Askatasuna was being kept as a legal political brand that could eventually be used by

to present lists in future elections. In mid-January 2009, the press reported that Askatasuna wanted to participate in the Basque elections of 2009. The PP asked justice to monitor Askatasuna to see if it was the electoral brand of the outlawed

. Askatasuna and

Demokrazia Hiru Milioi Demokrazia Hiru Milioi (Spanish: ''Democracia Tres Millones''; D3M; also called Demokrazia 3,000,000) was an electoral platform which was formed to participate in the Basque Parliament elections in 2009. It was declared illegal on February 8, 2009 ...

(D3M) were banned from the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

by the

Supreme Court of Spain The Supreme Court ('', TS'') is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. Originally established pursuant to Title V of the Constitution of 1812 to replace —in all matters that affected justice— the System of Councils, and currently regula ...

due to their alleged links to

and

. Soon later, both Askatasuna and

Demokrazia Hiru Millioi Demokrazia Hiru Milioi (Spanish: ''Democracia Tres Millones''; D3M; also called Demokrazia 3,000,000) was an electoral platform which was formed to participate in the Basque Parliament elections in 2009. It was declared illegal on February 8, 2009 ...

were also banned as political parties and dissolved by the

Constitutional Court of Spain The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...

. On June 11, 2012, the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; en, National Court) is a centralised court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in a certain scope of delinquency, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those ...

cleared the promoters Askatasuna considering that their activity did not involve "direct connection" with the purposes and methods of the terrorist organization

. The judgment recognized that Askatasuna "was the successor" of

, Euskal Herritarrok and

, and therefore "had to be aware of their contribution to the succession of the outlawed parties"; but "has not been established that the accused, consciously and deliberately acted in support of the terrorist organization

" but exercised "political participation rights of those who are the owners and the exercise of which have not been suspended or disqualified.

References

{{Reflist 1998 establishments in Spain 2009 disestablishments in Spain Banned secessionist parties Banned socialist parties Basque nationalism Defunct socialist parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Left-wing nationalist parties Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist Political parties disestablished in 2009 Political parties established in 1998 Banned political parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community)