Vox has registered this Monday a written request for action before the Prosecutor's Office of the National Court to file an appeal against the decision of the Basque Government to grant the third degree of prison to the former ETA leader Henri Parot and ask that the measure be rendered ineffective so that he "returns immediately to the corresponding prison center".
The document, signed by the National Legal Deputy Secretary of the party, Marta Castro, states that this decision "directly affects the rights that the legal system recognizes to the victims of terrorism" as it implies "a contempt and humiliation".
In the legal argumentation, the text recalls that article 61 of Law 29/2011 "imposes on the State the obligation to prevent and avoid the commission of acts that entail "discredit, contempt or humiliation of the victims or their families, exaltation of terrorism, tribute or public granting of distinctions to terrorists"".
Furthermore, the party emphasizes that it must be credibly and cumulatively demonstrated the existence of "unequivocal" signs of having abandoned "terrorist ends and means"; along with "active collaboration" to "prevent" new crimes and "mitigate" those already committed, as well as to identify, detain or prosecute "those responsible for terrorist crimes".
The written document also emphasizes the requirement of an "express declaration of repudiation of criminal activities and abandonment of violence"; the "express request for forgiveness to the victims"; and the provision of "technical reports that certify the real disconnection from the terrorist organization and its environment".
"The granting of the third degree without sufficient accreditation of these requirements would constitute a direct violation of article 72.6 LOGP", states the document presented by Vox.
In relation to the principle of flexibility in prison classification, the party warns that "it cannot in any case serve as a channel to evade the requirements" that "the organic law imposes for access to the third degree for those convicted of terrorism crimes" and, "even more so" "in those who have a bloody activity".
Therefore, it argues that this principle "must be interpreted in accordance with the organic rules that condition and limit the classification to the third degree".
Vox also urges to verify the settlement of the Parot sentence, so that, "if it turns out that the time limits provided" in the Penal Code "have not been exhausted," this would serve to reinforce the "impropriety" of the degree granted to the inmate.
In the final part of the document, the party of Santiago Abascal cites the ruling of the Constitutional Court 169/2021, of October 6, from which, according to its interpretation, it follows that "the security periods and the reinforced requirements" necessary to access the third degree are not met, being "constitutionally legitimate" only when "they do not completely nullify the expectation of reintegration," a circumstance that, in the opinion of the formation, occurs in this case.
Based on all of the above, Vox concludes "that the granting of the penitentiary third degree to Henri Parot is manifestly improper as long as the effective compliance with each and every one of the requirements established in article 72.6 LOGP is not accredited."
The party recalls that Parot was convicted of "39 completed terrorist murders and other crimes of extreme gravity," "accumulating prison sentences close to 4,797 years," with "the presence of minors among those killed in the Zaragoza attack" and that the "magnitude of the sentences" places "this case in a plane of exceptional gravity."
Vox also argues that the granting of the third degree to the former leader of the terrorist group violates "the spirit and purpose" of Organic Law 7/2003, whose aim was "to guarantee the full and effective compliance of sentences in cases of particularly serious crimes" and to establish "qualified requirements for those convicted of terrorism to access the open regime."