[JURIST] Spanish police Friday arrested at least 40 of 56 defendants [JURIST report] accused of supporting Basque separatist group ETA [BBC backgrounder] in 2005, according to a court official cited by AP. Forty-six found guilty of belonging to various organizations are believed to have provided financial, political, media, and international support to ETA. Those arrested have been out on bail since the trial concluded in March. The National Court [Wikipedia backgrounder] will read out the formal verdicts in the case on December 10, and ordered the arrests to stop those convicted from fleeing Spain.

In October, three political leaders in Spain's Basque region, including its president, were ordered to stand trial [PDF text] for meeting publicly with members of the Batasuna party [BBC profile] to negotiate an ETA ceasefire. ETA has been blamed for more than 800 deaths in bombings and attacks since the 1960s. AP has more.