Basque Government grants third-degree status to ETA prisoner Idoia Mendizabal

The Basque Government has granted third-degree prison status to Idoia Mendizabal Mujika, a former member of the ETA terrorist organization’s ‘Olaia command’. Mendizabal, currently held at the Zubieta prison in San Sebastián, is eligible for this status under the penitentiary regulations.

Mendizabal was previously sentenced to 377 years in prison for a 2002 bombing attack against the deputy mayor of Barakaldo, Esther Cabezudo, an incident involving 20 attempted murders. Her convictions also include a 20-year sentence for a bomb in Santander, a 10-year sentence for an explosives attempt at the Bilbao Stock Exchange, and 25 years for attacking an officer with Molotov cocktails in 1998.

The Department of Justice and Human Rights stated that the decision follows a “strict compliance with legality,” noting that the prison’s treatment board proposed the move after determining she met the necessary requirements.