A Basque journalist detained for alleged links with Eta separatists has claimed he and his colleagues were tortured in Madrid by the Spanish Interior Ministry’s police. Marcelo Otamendi, editor in chief of the Basque-language daily Egunkaria, which was closed last week because of suspected Eta links, said yesterday he was tortured during an all-night interrogation session in the cells of the paramilitary civil guard. The claims have further raised the tension between the Basque country and Madrid. The justice minister of the autonomous Basque government, Joseba Azkarraga, demanded that Mr Otamendi’s allegations be fully investigated. “When a newspaper editor denounces ill-treatment, you can’t just look the other way,” he said. “You have to take action.” But Angel Acebes, Spain’s Interior Minister, angrily dismissed the claims as “totally false” and “criminal” and said he would open legal proceedings against those who made them. “In this country, the only ones who violate basic human rights are Eta, who torture and kill,” he said. Full Story
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