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GVs Supporters outside house of released Basque prisoner, Bilbao, Spain, and prisoner coming out and joining crowds on march through streets (2 shots)
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SV Basque supporters singing and carrying banners and flags
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SV & CU Supporters singing in town square (2 shots)
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SV Woman and child listening as ex-prisoner addresses crowd
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GV Crowd clapping
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: INTRODUCTION Several thousand prisoners have been released from Spanish jails following a general call for amnesty for political detainees. The release came as King Juan Carlos returned home from an overseas tour in the middle of an internal crisis.

SYNOPSIS: While King Carlos was away, the Spanish Government released more than 500 prisoners under a recent amnesty. The amnesty was aimed at preparing the way for general elections later this year, but according to the Ministry of Justice only a small proportion of the released prisoners were in the so-called 'political' category. Among those released were nine out of 100 Basque Nationalists -- the largest group of political prisoners in Spanish jails.

The Basques are the main thorn in the Government's side in the current situation -- and are expected to be a major factor in the general elections in May, the first democratic vote in the country for more than forty years.

Although only a small fraction of the number of prisoners released, the Basques received a massive emotional welcome.

The Basques have been a major factor in Spanish politics for several years -- they're a small proportion of the population, but a vociferous one, and have contributed a large amount towards the general unrest in the country since the death of General Francisco Franco and the advent of a low democracy.