Eta’s terrorist ‘Tigress’ freed – but victims’ families aren’t happy One of Eta’s most infamous killers walked free from prison yesterday, after serving a total of 23 years in prison […]

One of Eta’s most infamous killers walked free from prison yesterday, after serving a total of 23 years in prison — less than one year for each of the people she murdered.

Idoia López Riaño, 53, known as La Tigresa (The Tigress), was one of the Basque separatist group’s leading commandos in its violent campaign for independence.

She was sentenced to 2,000 years in prison when she was extradited to Spain from France in 2003 but under Spanish law would have served a maximum of 30.

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She left Álava Penitentiary Centre in Nanclares, near the Basque Country capital of Vitoria, at midday, much to the dismay of the family members of her victims.

‘Romantic ideas’

Riaño, who had originally hoped to be a firefighter, explained in a letter to Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska in 2015 how she came to join Eta.

She said: “I became involved with Eta at a very young age, full of romantic and idealistic ideas, and those who captured me knew straight away how to make me choose: ‘Would you prefer to save a few people as a firefighter or a whole town? We need committed kids like you.’”

She chose the latter and after joining aged 18, spent 10 years fighting with the group, from 1984 to 1994, taking part in dozens of attacks across Spain.

Her most infamous attack was the 1986 car bomb planted o a Madrid square that killed 12 Civil Guard and injured 50 people.

Extradited to Spain

Eta leaders both admired Riaño for her cold-blooded attitude towards killing and became frustrated with her for her reckless behaviour, which reportedly included a penchant for bedding policemen — hence her Tigress nickname.

Her commanders eventually sent her to France, where she was arrested in 1994 in the town of Aix-en-Provence. She served time in France on terrorism charges and was extradited to Spain in 2003, where she was sentenced to 2,000 years in prison for killing 23 people.

Riaño was expelled from Eta in 2010 after she renounced violence and apologised to her victims.

Eta killed more than 800 people and wounded thousands in over 40 years of violence. It said in April this year that it was disarming.