The Spanish Supreme Court issued a verdict last week confirming the provisional banning of Batasuna, a Basque political party the government has accused of supporting the Basque separatist group ETA. It is the first time a political party has been banned since the end of the rule of dictator Francisco Franco. Members of Batasuna and the new Basque nationalist movement Autodeterminaziorako Bilgunea have promised to resist the decision and to continue to exercise their rights to free assembly and protest over the government’s policies.
