Madrid - A General in the Guardia Civil and a former Socialist Party leader this week denied repeatedly in a Madrid courtroom that they had ordered the kidnapping, torture and murder of two members of ETA in 1983, writes Paddy Woodworth.
Joxean Lasa and Joxe Zabala "disappeared" in Bayonne 17 years ago. Their bones, bearing clear signs of torture, were found in a quicklime grave in Alicante in 1985, but not identified for another 10 years. They were the first victims of the dirty war against ETA conducted by the GAL (Anti-terrorist Liberation Groups), which has been closely linked to the Socialist administration of Mr Felipe Gonzalez.
Gen Enrique Galindo, a veteran leader of the Guardia Civil in the Basque Country in the 1980s, is accused by one of his former subordinates and fellow defendants, Mr Felipe Bayo, of having visited the victims in specially constructed cells in the governor's palace in San Sebasti.