Thousands protest about ETA ruling TENS of thousands of people have protested in Madrid against a European Court of Human Rights ruling that frees dozens of imprisoned members of the Basque separatist group ETA. The Spanish Association of Terrorism Victims, the organiser of the demonstration on central Madrid's Plaza Colon, says about 200,000 people have taken part. Two ETA prisoners have been released from prison in recent days after the Strasbourg court ruled on Monday that a Basque separatist sentenced to more than 3800 years in prison for involvement in 24 killings and imprisoned since the late 1980s had been jailed too long. Ines del Rio had had her sentence reduced, but a Spanish policy said reductions in prison terms must be deducted from the full length of the term and do not automatically lead to freedom, which meant Del Rio stayed in prison. However, she took her case to the European Court of Human Rights, which said the Spanish policy violated the European Convention of Human Rights. The decision applies not only to Del Rio but also 60 other ETA members, seven members of the violent far-left group GRAPO and 14 common criminals. The ETA's campaign for a sovereign Basque state began in 1968 and has left about 850 people dead. It renounced violence in 2011, but the government refuses to negotiate with it, insisting it must dissolve first.