Court Watch
40 of the nearly 500 ETA members currently im- prisoned could make claims comparable to those of del Río Prada. These prisoners were also de- nied applicable sentence remissions under the Parot Doctrine. More importantly, though, they were sentenced before the Parot Doctrine was in practice.
Spanish officials say that similar appeals for early release will be handled on a case by case basis. The ECtHR’s recent decision overruled the Span- ish Supreme Court’s ruling on the basis that Ar- ticles 7 and 5 of the Convention were violated.
First, the ECtHR ruled that the lower court had vio- lated Article 7 by committing a punishment with- out supporting law. The ECtHR examined the pre- cision of the prior practice of Spanish courts, as well as the appellant’s belief that she was entitled to the customary remissions from the maximum 30 year sentence. In doing so, it concluded that the appellant had no reason to believe that the Pa- rot Doctrine would be retroactively applied nearly two decades after her conviction.
The second violation applied to any deprivation of liberty to the prisoner by the execution of her pen- alty. The ECtHR unanimously voted that del Río Prada had been unlawfully detained since July of 2008, thus depriving her of a liberty and violating Article 5 § 2 of the Convention. The ECtHR ulti- mately concluded del Río Prada was entitled to both an early release and monetary compensation of 30,000 euros Given the relatively broad specifi- cations laid out by the ECtHR’s decision in grant- ing del Rio Prada’s early release, there could be more ETA prisoners with similar circumstances.
The ECtHR’s decision has not gone uncontested. Thousands gathered in the streets of Madrid to protest the decision. Likewise, a much smaller crowd gathered in celebration, viewing the deci- sion as a small victory for the Basque region. De- spite widespread public discontent, Spanish offi- cials seem willing to adhere to the ECtHR ruling.
* Submitted by Joshua Ash . ILSA Quarterly » volume 22 » issue 3 » February 2014
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