Spain Sentences ETA Terrorist to 29-Year Jail Term for Murder

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 16, 2002

Spain Sentences ETA Terrorist to 29-Year Jail Term for Murder

Spain's supreme court Friday sentenced Idoia Lopez Riano, a convicted ETA member, to 29 years in jail for the murder of a French citizen, Joseph Couchot in 1984.

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Spain's supreme court Friday sentenced Idoia Lopez Riano, a convicted ETA member, to 29 years in jail for the murder of a French citizen, Joseph Couchot in 1984.

This is the first ruling issued by the nation's top court against the terrorist since she was extradited from France on May 9,2001.

Lopez Riano, together with A. Aguirre and Ramon Zapirain, all belonging to the Oker unit of the separatist organization, conspired to assassinate Couchot, whom they considered a member of the Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups (GAL), the court said.

The verdict says that on November 6, 1984, the accused hijacked a car at gunpoint and went to the Bar Eguzkia in the Basque town of Irun, where Couchot often had lunch.

While Zapirain was waiting in the car, Lopez Riano and Aguirre found Couchot and shot him several times. Couchot was severely injured on the spot and died soon after, the sentence says.

Lopez Riano was arrested on August 28, 1994 in France.

In Spain she was accused of having participated in a number of ETA terrorist attacks.

ETA, which is an acronym for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" in the Basque language, is a separatist group that has resorted to terrorism over the past 30 years to win independence for a Basque country that is supposed to extend from northeastern Spain to Southwestern France.

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