MADRID (Sputnik) — National Court Judge Juan Pablo Gonzalez partially upheld the relevant claims submitted by the Dignity and Justice, Luis Portero Foundation and a number other organizations.
According to the judge's decision, the actions of ETA "are widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population or its representatives, which qualifies them as a crime against humanity."
"Systematic attacks against the representatives of the civilian population represents the persecution on political and ideological grounds," and "destruction [of the representatives] or removal by force or terror are considered strategically necessary for the organization [ETA] to achieve its political objectives," judge's decision read.
Meanwhile, the judge refused to qualify the ETA's crimes as a genocide.
The Basque terrorist group ETA was founded July 31, 1959. Its goal is gaining the independence for the Greater Basque Country. In 2011, the ETA announced the cessation of the armed struggle.
