Officials ordered to jail in ‘dirty war' case

A Spanish court ordered yesterday that a Civil Guard general and two former officials be jailed while they appeal against their convictions for involvement in “dirty war” against Basque separatists. The ruling by a three-judge panel was the latest chapter in a scandal that contributed to former Socialist Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez's defeat in a 1996 general election. The court ruled that a Civil Guard general, a former provincial governor and a Civil Guard officer must join two other Guardsmen already in jail for the kidnap and murder of two Basque separatists. The three men had been free on bail but now must await the outcome of their appeals behind bars. The two others were in jail during the trial. All five were convicted on April 26 and sentenced to terms of up to 71 years for their roles in the Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups (GAL), death squads that targeted suspected sympathisers of the Basque separatist group ETA. General Enrique Rodriguez Galindo and Julen Elgorriaga, a former Socialist governor of the Basque province of Guipuzcoa, were convicted of supervising the crimes committed against Jose Antonio Lasa, 20, and Jose Ignacio Zabala, 21.