Basque leader to accuse Spain at European court for blocking referendum
The Basque Country will complain to the European Court of Human Rights because the Spanish government is blocking a referendum-style vote on the region's ties with the rest of Spain
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, September 02, 2008
The head of the Basque regional government, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, on Monday invited all Basque citizens to add their own complaints to his government's own, which he said he would personally lodge with the court in Strasbourg on September 16.
The region's government wants to hold a referendum-style vote on October 25 on whether to seek peace talks with separatist rebels ETA and on the "right to decide" of the Basque people -- a coded reference to the issue of whether the Basque Country should remain part of Spain.
Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero says he will stop the vote from going ahead because it violates the Spanish constitution.
