Judge Baltasar Garzón has this morning issued a ‘search and capture’ warrant for ETA member Maite Aranalde.
Judge Garzón returned from his vacation this morning and revoked a probation order for Aranalde issued by judge Eloy Velasco. Aranalde left Soto del Real prison in Madrid on Friday after his family posted the €12,000 bail.
The Public Prosecutor had appealed against the bail decision by judge Velasco, who was deputising for judge Baltasar Garzón, and also requested increase security measures for Aranalde to ensure that he didn’t skip the country.
After the search and capture order was issued by judge Garzón, police officers went to the home of Aranalde in Guipuzcoa but, sstrange to relate, he wasn’t at home. It is thought he might have skipped the country.
Maite Aranalde was handed over to the authorities in Spain last Tuesday after serving a sentence in France for conspiracy. Upon his arrival in Spain, the High Court discovered that the documentation accompanying Maite Aranalde only related to one of two charges brought against him and judge Velasco ordered his detention on charges of possession of explosives. The judge then set bail at €12,000.