A Spanish judge released nine people arrested for suspected links to a Basque newspaper shut down by authorities, judicial sources said this afternoon.
The paper was closed on suspicion it was channelling cash to armed separatist group ETA.
Five were released on bail of between €12,000 and €30,000 and the other four were freed without bail, the sources said.
Police last Thursday detained eight business people with suspected links to the paper. On Monday, a ninth person who was waiting to talk to one of the detainees was arrested, local media reported.
In February, a High Court judge ordered the newspaper Egunkariato be closed down and froze its bank accounts, saying it had close ties to ETA.
Critics called the closure of the newspaper an attack on press freedom and an assault on the Basque language, which is a source of pride for Basque nationalists seeking greater autonomy or independence from Spain. The newspaper has resumed publishing under another name.
ETA, which has killed more than 840 people in its three-decade campaign for a Basque homeland carved out of northern Spain and southwest France, is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.
