Basque separatist leader Otegi freed from jail

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (AFP) — Arnaldo Otegi, the former leader of Batasuna, the banned political wing of armed Basque separatist group ETA, was released from jail Saturday after spending just over a year behind bars.

"Otegi got out at 7:25 am (0525 GMT) and there are lots of people outside", a prison officer confirmed to AFP by telephone.

Around 100 people were waiting to greet him, an AFP photographer said outside the prison in the Martutene suburb of the Basque coastal city of San Sebastian in northern Spain.

Otegi spent several minutes embracing family, friends and former leaders of Batasuna, including his lawyer Jone Girizelaia, a former regional deputy.

Afterwards he made a brief statement in the Basque language and in Spanish thanking those...