The government of the Basque Country has confirmed this Saturday that in the next few weeks the French government will authorise the progressive transfer of ETA terrorists in French prisons to penitentiaries closer to the Basque region.
This has come to light just days after the Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena refused to release the Catalan political prisoners, Oriol Junqueras, Joaquim Forn, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, also denying them the right to attend the critical opening sessions of the Catalan Parliament in which three of them are MPs-elect. The men are being held in prison as a preventive measure, never having committed any violent offences.
Llarena made it clear that both the acting Catalan vice president Junqueras as well as MPs-elect Joaquim Forn and Jordi Sànchez are "legally unable" to attend the parliamentary sessions and, therefore, they are able to request the delegation of their votes, which will have to then be considered by the Board of Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Basque prime minister Iñigo Urkullu has explained that the French government intends to move prisoners closer to home "progressively and gradually, treating each case in an individualized way".
"This is good news," Urkullu said. "The Basque government supports these changes, for which it has been working during the last few months."