David Pla Marín
| David Pla Marín | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 Pamplona |
| Other names |
|
| Organization | ETA |
| Criminal charge | Planning terrorism, membership of a prohibited organisation |
| Criminal penalty | 6 years in prison |
David Pla Marín (born 1975, Pamplona) is a lawyer and Basque activist, who Spanish authorities believe to have been one of the three leaders of the Basque separatist group ETA at the time of the group's ceasefire declaration in October 2011. In 2000 Pla was condemned to six years imprisonment for planning an attack against the Mayor of Zaragoza, José Atarés. Pla is believed to be one of three people who read out the October 2011 ETA ceasefire declaration. He had previously been the leader of Basque separatist youth organisation Jarrai in the 1990s and had stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for Herri Batasuna in the 1995 local elections.
In the 1990s, Pla belonged to the Jarrai youth organisation, which was later banned and included in the European Union's list of terrorist organisations on the grounds of its links to ETA. He served as one of the organisation's main spokesmen and organised fund raising events. During this time, he defended "all forms of struggle" as being legitimate for Basque youth and called for independence and self-determination for the Greater Basque Country.
In 1994, when Spanish police dismantled the Nafarroa commando unit of ETA, they raided Pla's home in the Ermitagaña district of Pamplona, but failed to find him. In 1998, he was alleged to have made deposits to ETA. In April 1999, his relatives' homes in Madrid were searched as part of an investigation into alleged threats against businessmen. Following this, Pla is believed to have moved to France.
On 28 July 2000, Pla was one of two people arrested in Zaragoza, charged with planning to assassinate the Mayor of the city, José Atarés, by placing a sticky bomb on his car. In June 2001 Pla was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison and fined 90,000 Pesetas for the use of false documents. The prosecution had sought an eleven-year prison sentence.
In July 2006, Spanish authorities sought to prevent his release, after receiving information from French authorities implicating him in the planning of the assassination of Spanish senator Manuel Giménez Abad, who was killed in May 2001. Pla denied the claims. The substitute judge at the Spanish High Court, Baltasar Garzón, originally ordered Pla to be detained pending further investigations, however, this ruling was overturned in August 2006 and Pla was freed.
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