Thousands of people Saturday protested in Spain's Basque territories against Spanish detention policies which they say amounts to an inhumane separation of prisoners from their loved ones, dpa reported.
At issue is government detention policies which have most of about 600 people found guilty of terrorism and supporting terrorism incarcerated hundreds of kilometres from their homes.
In the past, relatives of the prisoners received government subsidies to make the trip to visit their detained relatives. But a court ruling blocking those subsidies was recently upheld by a higher court. The ruling Socialist Party of Spain's Basque Country also opposes the subsidies.
Protesters called the separation inhumane. Many called for amnesties for activists of the Basque ETA organization, calling them "political prisoners."
The demonstrations were called by a collection of Basque parties.