A Basque separatist killer whose fate has divided Spain vowed yesterday to continue his hunger strike, despite having his jail sentence reduced by the Supreme Court.

Iñaki de Juana Chaos, who has not eaten for 100 days, had said in an interview with The Times that he would not halt his hunger strike for anything short of unconditional freedom. The Supreme Court slashed his latest sentence on Monday for “glorifying terrorism”. Because he has already served two years on remand, de Juana would be freed in a year.

José Luis RodrÍguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister, will now have to decide whether to free de Juana or accept his death. De Juana is being force-fed after losing about 28kg (62lb).

Batasuna, the outlawed political wing of Eta, also raised the pressure on Mr Zapatero, saying that the Government had the responsibility to “end [de Juana’s] critical situation” and save his life. “You can’t keep prisoners in jail by inventing false charges,” Joseba Permach, the Batasuna spokesman, said.

De Juana’s lawyer told the television channel ETB yesterday that he planned to file an injunction with the Spanish Constitutional Court, which could block the Supreme Court’s latest sentence. Alternatively, the Government could grant de Juana “conditional freedom” because he has already served two thirds of his revised sentence, and because of his state of health.

But the Government would face an outcry from groups representing Eta’s 800 victims, many of whom already despise Mr Zapatero for having held peace talks with Eta during its ceasefire last year. The Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT) has called a mass demonstration on February 24 to protest at the reduced sentence, for which it blames Mr Zapatero.

The AVT, which is closely aligned with the Popular Party, blamed the Government for the Supreme Court decision and called on it to “stop yielding to Eta’s blackmail”, adding that it would hold a memorial for De Juana’s 25 victims.

Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the opposition Popular Party, said that de Juana should not qualify for any benefits “because he has not shown any remorse, nor apologised” for his crimes. Mr Rajoy said that, if in power, he would ensure that de Juana served every day of his revised sentence.

De Juana was originally sentenced to 3,000 years in jail for his part in 25 killings in attacks during the 1980s. Because of sentencing rules he was due to be released two years ago after serving 18 years in prison. To prevent this, the Government charged him with making veiled terrorist threats in two newspaper articles, for which he received another 12 years and 7 months in prison.

On Monday the Supreme Court overturned that decision, sentencing him to three years for lesser, alternative charges.

­ The National Court in Spain sentenced a member of Eta yesterday to 467 years in prison for her role in a 1985 car bombing that killed Eugene Brown, an American citizen, and injured 17. Belén González Peñalva was one of four people who carried out the bombing of a police van in Madrid. (AP)

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