Spain: March demands closer prisons for Basque militants

BILBAO, Spain – Several thousand protesters have marched in northern Spain to demand that imprisoned members of the militant Basque group ETA be moved to prisons closer to their homes.

The demonstration in Bilbao on Saturday came a day after ETA made an unprecedented apology for the killings of more than 850 people during the group’s four-decade armed campaign for the Basque region’s independence from France and Spain.

The group, which ceased killing in 2011, is expected to announce it is dissolving next month.

Hundreds of members of ETA are kept in Spanish and French prisons, mostly outside the Basque region.

The Spanish government has said that ETA’s vow to not return to violence was long overdue and would not be rewarded by easing the conditions of its members in prisons.