Segi 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 ...

pro-independence and revolutionary

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

organization. It forms part of the

Basque National Liberation Movement The Basque National Liberation Movement (; Basque: Euskal Nazio Askapenerako Mugimendua, "ENAM") was an umbrella term that comprised all social, political and armed organizations orbiting around the ideas of the illegal armed organisation Euskadi ...

and is aligned with

Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak (, Basque for "Nationalist Workers' Committees") is a Basque left-wing nationalist and separatist trade union operating mainly in the Basque Country under Spanish rule currently led by Garbiñe Aranburu. It was created in 1974 by Jon Idigora ...

and

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 ...

. Segi is proscribed as a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

organisation (as a member of ETA) by both the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and French authorities as well as the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

as a whole. , 29 May 2006 In its decision, on 27 February 2007, the Grand Chamber of the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

(ECJ) dismissed the appeal of the illegal Basque organisation "Gestoras Pro Amnistia" and Segi members against their dismissal by the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

with claims for damages suffered as a result of inclusion in the "terrorist list". The UK intervened with Spain – it was the only other EU state to do so, as a symbol of the support of the rest of the European Council.

Background

In 2002 Segi was classed as a "

" organization by the Spanish National Court magistrate 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 ...

, thus banning it as a component of

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 ...

. Garzón had previously banned the two other Basque youth organizations that preceded Segi: Jarrai and Haika. Spanish and other European courts have banned a number of ETA-related organizations such as newspapers – '' Egin'' (1998), Egunkaria (2003); youth organisations – Jarrai (1999), Haika (2001), Segi (2002); prisoner associations – Askatasuna (2002) and Gestoras Pro-Amnistia (2003) and political parties such as Herri Batasuna (1997) and its successor Batasuna (2003). All those decisions have been based on the alleged direct coordination of such organisations with ETA (i.e. the organisations have been declared "members of a terrorist group" and of "cooperation with terrorist groups" by helping in the recruitment of new members and supporting ETA's finances). According to ''

An Phoblacht ''An Phoblacht'' (Irish pronunciation: ; ) is a Sinn Féin-affiliated online Irish republicanism, Irish republican news platform which also publishes a quarterly print magazine format. Editorially the paper takes a Left-wing politics, left-wing ...

'' the case descended into a farce when another judge in the Spanish National Court considered that Garzón’s arguments "were not valid" and released all the detainees. However another report suggests that the Supreme Court ruled they were a terrorist organization, but had not been placed on the country's terrorist list before the court's January 19 ruling.

Support from abroad

Ógra Shinn Féin (the youth wing of political party

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

), which maintains fraternal relations with Segi,Youth Parties Guide
, has called for the "immediate release of our comrades in Euskal Herria". It has begun an online petition to demand the reversal of the decision to declare Segi to be an illegal and terrorist organization. The petition claims that the Spanish Government has "decided to brand a completely legitimate political group as terrorists in an attempt to subvert the ever present Basque national liberation struggle". It is also campaigning for the release of the National Executive of Segi, who were arrested on a protest and were sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. Ógra Shinn Féin has passed a motion in support of Segi at a recent congress, declaring their support.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segi Politics of Spain Basque politics Secessionist organizations Terrorism in Spain Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist Left-wing militant groups in Spain