I understand Mr. Catan's fears to call De Juana a terrorist instead of a separatist. ETA has threatened and attacked many journalists in Spain. Many of them still live under such permanent threat and have to endure daily security. Unfortunately this means terrorism is winning. Please, Mr. Catan, don't let them terrorise you.

Jose, Madrid, Spain

please can the times write and print a newspaper in spanish . freedom of speech is a right not a word

Garreth, Madrid, Spain

What this man done was wrong and evil. I live in Spain and to hear an honest non biased article is impossible. Where are the politicans who changed the law to release a terroist after only 18 years.There is about as much chance as Gerry Adams marching with orange men as spanish politicians taking responability for their errors. ETA are wrong but spanish people are told what to think and do by PP OR PSOE oloiticans daily through various media. freedom of speech here is dead.

Garreth, Madrid, Spain

Anders, you are very very wrong, about the people killed by ETA there are 25 kids and injured more than 60, I prefer to believe that you do not know all the story, better than you are lying...maybe this kids are against the "separatis-terrorism" freedom of Basque Country, do you want their photos??
In 1987 ETA blasted a bomb in a Mall in Barcelona and killed 5 dauhters....maybe they were a problem for the freedom of Basque Country
In 1980 ETA killed 91 people half of 91 victims they were civilian........
Near a half ot the people who were killed are civilians..
PLEASE IF YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO SUPPORT ETA, PLEASE FIRSt STUDY THE HISTORY- MEMORY OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE KILLED, BECAUSE IF NOT YOU ARE SUPPORTING AND LYING...

miguel angel, madrid, spain

I think the problem here is the Spanish Legal system: A person kills 25 people and has to stay 18 years in prison ( less than a year per person killed ) and the same person has to go to prison for 12 years after writing 2 articles. I think the first sentence was a mistake and now something must me done...In Spain you get 1500 years in prison and in the end you can only accomplish a maximum of 32...By the way Mrs Hedinger, a lot of things have changed since 1978 and so should our Constitution. You say it was ratified and confirmed by ALL Spaniards...Well I was too young to vote ! Spain was a post dictaorship country, old-fashioned... 30 years is a long time and I'm not sure about the population's answer in a referendum in Catlonia, and specially in the Basque Country nowadays. We should be given at least the chance to vote. No violence, just democracy, just a vote. By the way, have you ever been to the Basque Country? I've never felt that tough reality you're talking about...

Ester, Barcelona,

To Pedro (in reply to Ander's comments):

have you ever been to Euskal Herria?
are you Basque?
do you know our problems?
NO.
why do you believe the police over a civilian?
you should read more about Basque history.

Joseba, Durango, Basque Country

As you can see, lots of people in Basque country are against terrorist group of ETA.
I have a friend from Santander - a place very near from Basque Country - who came to Madrid to study, and she says that people from Basque Country are really kind and nice, and that the people who want independence are making the things difficult for the others, and that they are a minority, but the major of the people don't want the independence.
My mother was born in Basque Country, and came to Madrid when she was 15 because of her Dad's job. So I have family from Basque Country and in somehow I am from there.
The people who I know are really nice people.
It is a shame that they are afraid of the terrorist group of ETA, so they can't express themselves with freedom because you don't know if your neighbour supports ETA, and then you can have a problem.
More if you are an official employee or you have a friend o relative who is.
Can you imagine?

Christina, Madrid, Spain

There is no much difference between the ways and means of Chavez and those of Rodriguez Zapatero.My only hope is that we do not behave like Venezuelans when we go to the polls next and throw him out of power for ever.

Juan L. Furquet, Valencia, Spain

Answering to Ray Kearns

Spain is not the only state in Europe with an independentist region, there is Italy with the Padania, there is France with the Basques (Iparralde), Catalans (Perpignan) and Corsica, There is British with Scottland and North Ireland, There is Belgium with the Flanders. and others.

So if you think that the democracy in Spain fails by don't allow a independency referendum in the spanish part of the Basque country, i supose you are saying that France, Italy, Belgium and Uk are not true democracies.

But maybe i'm wrong and you are saying that the correct way to face a terrorist threat to a democratic state is to surrender and accept their conditions.

My personal point of view is that an Independence referendum in the (Spanish) Basque Country must be decided by the Basque Parliament (That currently exists with a great autonomy, much more that Scotish or North Irish) in abscence of violence. This kind of decisions cannot be taken conditioned by guys with guns.

Jordi, Barcelona,

Hippocrites who critiziced The Times for publishing an interview with Mr. De Juana --free propaganda for a terrorist, they claimed pretending to be outraged—remained eerily quiet when El Mundo Published this Monday an extensive interview of Jamal Zougam, an alledged terrorist involved on the 11M attack in Madrid. If charges are proven true, Mr. Zougam would be a far bloodier terrorist that Mr De Juana, but do not expect letters of complaint from Mr. Aznar to El Mundo: it would not be politically convenient for him or is cronies to do so. What a shame!

Manuel, Madrid, Spain

I just only wish that for once the spanish goverment had a strong will to end with ETA instead of using it to win at the polls. The goverment in the UK did not buckle against such threats from the IRA menbers and the result has been peace in northen Ireland and the disbanment of the IRA military wing. Even the Sinn Fein is actually talking and behaving like a democratic party in the irish parlament. Can Spain for once sut down it's hot blooded temper and follow the advice of it's anglo neigthbors.

F.Bonmati, Williamstown, USA New Jersey

to Anders
have you ever been in spain?
are you spanish?
do you know our problems?
NO.
why do you believe a terrorist and not a police?
so as i see, you think that our guardia civil and police are terrorits
you prefer a killer , you believe him.
but you don't believe in our system.
you should read more about our history

pedro, tanos,

Why didn't you say that IRA was an Irish separatist group?
I think it was because IRA as ETA was a terrorist group

Jorge, Zaragoza, Spain

To Kiko: the 1978 Cosntitution does not allow for a referendum. It would need to be changed to allow for this, with the consensus of ALL the Spaniards.
Have your referendum... lose it, but don´t come back crying with more violence...
The world is going global... Independance is an excuse for a minority of marxist/nazi exclusionists.

Lucrecia Hedinger, Madrid, Spain

He killed 25 people, but he paid for it, he spent 18 years in prison. Now, the Spanish government has decided he shouldn't be free and used two articles he wrote (I've read them and there are no threats, he is very critical with those guys) to keep him in jail. I'm Danish, I don't support ETA, I support the independence of the Basque C. and I think what they are doing with De Juana is a huge injustice, and nobody is doing nothing. And the worst thing, is that the Spanish people want him to stay in prison even he paid for it, this is not a democracy.
On the other hand, I answering Javier. ETA don't "practice terrorism against whoever who is not a Basque nationalist". They used to kill policemen and politicians. I don't mean that this is Ok, but I think you want to scare the population.
Finally, I would like to ask you what do you think about the torture denounces in Spain. If you say that you don't believe them, look for Unai Romano in google. I think that Spanish democracy suxs

Anders, Århus, Danmark

Lucrecia ask why should the Basques have a referendum on independence?
-Answer- Because it is our rignt.
She says that the majority of Basques do not want independence. In that case, why are you so oppose to a referendum?

kiko moraiz, London, UK

The fact that Mr De Juana is a cold-blooded murderer whose attitude towards the grief he has caused is one of arrogance and lack of repentance is something no-one should ever forget when analysing this case. The Spanish Government are in a difficult position, but the stance they have taken is respected by a majority of Spaniards, since yielding to blackmail is not our country´s policy. Also, I would like to remind people like Mr Kearns that "the people of the Basque Country" is a very generic label: many of us (I would dare say over a 45% of the population) have no desire for independence whatsoever, and our rights are violated in a daily basis by those who claim to be our "liberators" and are in fact those who really oppress us. I would not want De Juana to die (and become a martyr for the cause), but it should be noted that he is a terrorist and not a "political prisoner". An appeal to "leniency" is an insult to those who lost their lives and their loved ones to his cruelty.

Aida, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain

Comment to Ray Kearns: Why should the Basques have a referendum on independence? The have full autonomy, which means their police, government, education, everything... The majority of Basques are NOT independantists and the referendum would be lost. What would ETA do then? Step up their violence? Terrorize the Basques even more???? Believe it or not, life in the Basque Country is very tough for the everyday Basque.
Spain has a Constitution, ratified and confirmed in 1978 by ALL the Spaniards, including the Basques and Catalans. Before calling a referendum, the Constitution would have to be changed, again with the votes of all the Spaniards...mostly probably again with a negative majority. A Constitution change would open the door for the Catalans, who are more likely to vote for independence. The majority of Basques feel Spanish and Basque so don’t let the foreign journalists fool you with their Basque Independence group; ETA is a TERRORIST group and nothing more. They are terrorizing the silent majority.

Lucrecia Hedinger, Madrid, Spain

Perhaps Spain finally needs to consider the prospect of holding a referendum on the Basque independence. If the people of the region no longer want Spanish involvement in their affairs, then Spain should get out - that removes whatever pretext these vile monsters have in the first place for committing such atrocities. More importantly, however, it emphasised the long-cherished concept of self-determination and pays more than lip service to it.

Reg Kearns, Oxford, England

This man has killed 25 people. How can anyone regard his sentence as complete when he has served 9 months per person he has killed? He was sentenced to 3000 years, so why has he only done less than 1/150th of his given sentence? Why dole out 3000 years when it means absolutely nothing. This kind of stupidity in sentencing exists across the West. He should have been given 1 life sentence and leave prison in a box. That is justice.
The West is getting soft on crime, particularly murder, and crime is rising directly as a result of liberal government policy and human rights. The law no longer takes murder as a serious crime. The victims rights are instantly forgotten by courts. Dead people don't have rights. The courts' only concern seems to be the welfare of the criminal. This kind of treatment will lead to law abiding people, quite rightly, taking the law into their own hands as the legal system treats murderers ever more leniently.

David Thijm, Stourbridge, UK

When in the United Kingdom a serious newspaper like "The Times" talks about the IRA, you never call them 'separatists', but 'terrorists'. The same happens with ETA: they are terrorists, and Iñaki De Juana Chaos, too.

Javier, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain

De Juana Chaos does not repent from his crimes, the same as the Popular Party in Spain does not repent from his crimes (not only here but also in Irak), does not repent from his lies, manipulations, closing of newspapers in the Basque Country, support to turtures to Basque prisoners in jails, condemning Basque democratic world and Basque institutions, etc... The difference between one and the others is that the former has already fullfil his punishment and the laters will probably never do it because law and Politics walk together in this Country. 2 different measurement systems depending on the political ideas of the prisoner. Why is it such a problem to let a region decide if they want to rule themselves? Freedom for Euskal Herria.

Edu, Bilbao, Basque Country

de Juana DID NOT serve his sentence for all commited murders. The sentence was 30 years. Spanish law considers reducing the sentence on certains condition. Some judge decided that de Juana fullfilled it, but it was not truth: he intented to escape from prision, was organizing riots, continually taking pride of his murders- in short: he was not a "model" prisioner. 12 years for 2 press articles is an absurd, but 30 years reduced to 18, for someone who is proud of his murders is another absurd.

Viktor , Bilbao, Spain

Spain´s judicial system is in caos. The gamut runs from this story of a murderer (I believe 25 people) being set free to local courts with thousands upon tyhousands of unresolved cases. A complete overhaul of a system that has brought nothing but caos wherever it has been exported is urgently needed.

Rolf Bjork, Marbella, Spain

Once again The Times and Mr Catan refuse to use the word "terrorist" for ETA and de Juana. Would they use this word if the terrorist had been and IRA member and the victims British citizens?

Luis Fernandez, Madrid, Spain

I cannot imagine that in the United Kingdom a terrorist like De Juana Chaos would be allowed to be playing with the government, the victims and public opinion in general as he is doing here in Spain. And then go out scot-free.
Luis

luis fueyo, madrid, spain

He is a murderer altough the sentence for writing two press articles is all too harsh, he has already served his sentence for all his killings so it would be unfair to punish him twice for the same crimes throught an unreasonable sentence, that is the reason why the spanish high court is right to reduce the punishment, the sad thing about this terrorist is that he does not repent from his crimes, and this is the reason why terrorism victims supporters feel so misstreated. However the rule of law, means that everybody should be treated equal, as the law should not be bent for political reasons,but from an ethical point of view De Juana Chaos is only a murderer and a terrorist who does not deserve much respect as he did not have any for his victims.

Javier Zapatero, Madrid, Spain