Overview
- The European Court of Human Rights declared the 2024 application by Arnaldo Otegi and four others inadmissible, closing their Strasbourg challenge.
- The judges found Spain’s Constitutional Court did not distort the 2018 ruling on trial impartiality and acted within its discretion.
- The court reiterated that its 2018 decision did not require annulment of national judgments and that the Convention does not guarantee overturning finalized convictions.
- Reopening or retrial was described as an appropriate remedy in principle, yet not a necessary one, with a reminder that states must enable re‑examination after Article 6 violations.
- The case stems from 2011 convictions in the Bateragune proceedings, later sentence reductions in 2012, a Supreme Court-ordered retrial, and a Constitutional Court decision that halted retrial while maintaining already served penalties for Otegi, Rafa Díez, Arkaitz Rodríguez, Miren Zabaleta, and Sonia Jacinto.