Burgos trials

Burgos trials
Court	Military tribunals in Burgos
Decided	28 December 1970
Case history
Subsequent action(s)	Six death sentences, later commuted to 30 years in prison
Keywords
terrorism Basque nationalism separatism torture show trial

The Burgos trials (Spanish: Proceso de Burgos) were a series of military tribunals held in the Spanish city of Burgos from 3 to 9 December 1970. The trials prosecuted 16 members of the Basque separatist organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) for their involvement in two murders of police officers in 1968. Causing international outrage and sympathy for the defendants, the trials are best known for six death sentences handed out by the tribunals which were later commuted to lengthy prison spells.

Widespread popular support for the defendants among the Basque public manifested itself in the weeks leading up to the trial. A labour strike by around 100,000 Basque workers, and the kidnapping by ETA of a German honorary consul, contributed to the significant media attention around the trials. In their statements, the defendants sought to portray their organisation as an advocate of the working classes. They also detailed incidents of torture they had experienced in prison.

On 28 December, the tribunals found all defendants guilty of the crimes of which they were accused. Six of them were sentenced to death. However, reacting to international pressure, the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco commuted the sentences to lengthy prison spells. Sparking condemnations from public figures including Pope Paul VI and Jean-Paul Sartre, the Burgos trials gained notoriety for being "one of the last occasions on which political prisoners were sentenced to [death]."^[1]