ETA terrorist María Jesús Elorza Zubizarreta arrested at Madrid Airport

María Jesús Elorza Zubizarreta was wanted for terrorism by virtue of a European Arrest Warrant issued in December 2006 by the French judicial authorities to serve a three-year prison sentence after being found guilty in absentia.

Born in Elgoibar (Guipúzcoa) in 1948, María Jesús Elorza Zubizarreta had been in hiding since 1984, when she fled after the dismantling of the illegal Donosti commando network which she had been providing support and cover for. During the time the commando network was operational, it was responsible for various murders in Guipúzcoa, principally of members of the State law enforcement agencies.

After the commando network was broken up in 1984, María Jesús Elorza Zubizarreta fled to France, where she stayed until the end of the 90s, forming part of the underground structure of ETA, specifically of the logistics wing. Her work during this time consisted of ensuring the transfer of members of the illegal Donosti commando and providing accommodation at the house she owned in San Sebastian (Guipúzcoa).

During these years, she took part in the manufacture of home-made explosives for the terrorist gang ETA under the orders of the head of the logistics wing, Julián Achurra Egurrola, known as "Pototo".

Following the arrest of the ETA terrorists José Antonio Aguirre Lete and Petra Elser in a police control in France, in November 1996, various documents were seized, including an envelope marked "Karakate", a fake Spanish Passport with the photograph of María Jesús Elorza Zubizarreta and 18 other photographs of her to be used in the preparation of fake documents.

Possibly as a result of these arrests, María Jesús Elorza Zubizarreta fled to Venezuela, where she remained until her return to Spain.

For these offences, the High Court of Paris (France) condemned María Jesús Elorza Zubizarreta in absentia to three years in prison and a lifetime ban on her from living in France for terrorist conspiracy - the equivalent of belonging to a terrorist gang in Spain - and issued a European Arrest Warrant under which she was arrested on Sunday.