Sir, – Eta’s militants and Sinn Féin not interchangeable (Opinion, December 7th).
Eta is the equivalent of the IRA, and Sinn Féin that of EH Bildu and Sortu; they are the heirs of Eta and their political wing, and are present in the Spanish parliament as well as in the regional ones in Vitoria and Pamplona.
Bildu and Eta militants, who are masters in semantics, have neither apologised directly to the victims nor to society at large.
Those of us who have suffered and know them well will not be cheated by their words, which I describe as mere hypocrisy. Basically, what they seek to obtain is increased penitentiary benefits – since the socialists are in power, Eta prisoners have received a number of advantages.
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Furthermore, in their last communiqué, the members of Eta (about 200 are still in prison) were reluctant to acknowledge the victims as such, instead they referred to them as “those who suffered as a result of the actions of our militancy in the past”.
Their homecoming celebrations (Ongi Etorris) have been taking place for years, and now, all of a sudden, they realise they produce “pain” to the victims.
Finally, in his opinion piece Fintan O’Toole quotes some of Otegui’s words, but it would be clarifying and illustrating for readers to know exactly what he said: “I’m sorry if we ever caused more pain than necessary, or more than that to which we were entitled” [sic] . I think that these words speak for themselves, and tell us the real morality and “grace” of this former prisoner.
In my view, and that of a great majority of Spaniards, the genuine “apology” will come when Eta terrorists, Bildu politicians and their supporters collaborate with the justice system in solving the murders of 300 innocent citizens.
– Yours, etc,
Dr JUAN JOSÉ
COGOLLUDO,
Navarra,
Spain.