Iñaki Ruiz de Pinedo Undiano (born 23 July 1954) is a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

sociologist, politician and a member of the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He was previously a member of the

Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament ( Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible. The Parliament ...

Early life

Ruiz de Pinedo was born on 23 July 1954 in Gasteiz, Basque Country. He is the son of Jeus and Edelmira, clothing traders from Gasteiz. He has two brothers, Josu and Julen. Ruiz de Pinedo was educated at Colegio San José and Ramiro de Maeztu high school in Gasteiz. He has a degree in

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

from the

University of Deusto The University of Deusto ( es, Universidad de Deusto; eu, Deustuko Unibertsitatea) is a Spanish private university owned by the Society of Jesus, with campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastián, and the Deusto Business School branch in Madrid. The Un ...

Career

Ruiz de Pinedo is a sociologist. He was affiliated with the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ) in his youth but later, whilst a student in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, he became a member of the People's Socialist Revolutionary Party (HASI), a banned Basque political party generally believed to be the political wing of the separatist

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

. At HASI's first congress he was elected to the party's board. Ruiz de Pinedo was a founding member of

Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; en, Popular Unity; HB) was a far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale, left-wing, socialist, and supported the independence of the Greater Basque Country. It was r ...

(HB)

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

. Ruiz de Pinedo contested the 1980 regional election as a HB candidate in the Province of Araba and was elected to the

. Ruiz de Pinedo, along with Jokin Gorostidi, Miguel Castells and other elected representatives of HB, were arrested in 1981 for singing '' Eusko Gudariak'' during an address by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Juan Carlos Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

at the Gernikako Batzarretxea. Ruiz de Pinedo and Jon Idigoras were arrested in December 1983 for "supporting terrorism" following a gathering at Los desayunos del Ritz at which they made statements justifying the ETA's armed separatism and supporting Basque independence. The

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; en, National Court) is a centralised court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in a certain scope of delinquency, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those ...

released the pair after ruling that it wasn't competent to hear cases against members of the Basque Parliament. In December 1985 the Supreme Court convicted Ruiz de Pinedo and Idigoras of "supporting terrorism" and sentenced them to one year in prison and fined them 100,000 pesetas. Ruiz de Pinedo was re-elected at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

regional elections. Despite being a member of the Basque Parliament he did not attend parliament until 1987 when HB's stance on the parliament changed. He was HB's spokesperson in parliament from 1987 to 1994. He left HASI in May 1988 after the party's leadership changed. Ruiz de Pinedo contested the 1987 local elections as a HB candidate in Vitoria-Gasteiz and was elected. He was re-elected at the 1991 local elections. He was a member of HB's National Board (Mahai Nazionaleko) from 1982 to 1996 when he left the party over differences in its direction and quit politics. In 1996 Ruiz de Pinedo and Rosa Delaasunciónekin founded Zero Tailer Soziologikoa S.L. Ruiz de Pinedo returned to politics in 1998 when at the 1998 regional election he was placed 5th on the

Euskal Herritarrok Euskal Herritarrok ( en, Basque Citizens, EH) was a Basque independentist and socialist political party in the Basque Country. EH was banned in 2003 by the Supreme Court of Spain on the grounds that it sympathized with ETA. History In February ...

(EH) electoral alliance's list of candidates in the Province of Araba but the alliance only managed to win three seats in the province and as a result he failed to get re-elected to the Basque Parliament. He contested the 1999 local elections as an EH candidate in Vitoria-Gasteiz and was re-elected. He resigned from Zero Tailer Soziologikoa in 1999 after being elected to the municipal council. He resigned from the municipal council in 2000 due to differences with the EH leadership over the party's stance on ETA. He left politics in 2000 and from 2001 to 2005 he carried out research on the social need of prisoners for the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, ''EHU''; es, Universidad del País Vasco, ''UPV''; UPV/EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Bilbao, initiall ...

. He joined Invesco-Mirugain in 2005 as a research co-ordiantor, specialising in poverty, prison and racism. Ruiz de Pinedo contested the 2019 general election as an

EH Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu ( en, link=yes, Basque Country Gather or Basque Country Unite) is a left-wing, Basque nationalist, pro-independence political coalition active in the Spanish autonomous communities of Basque Country, Nava ...

candidate in the Province of Araba and was elected to the

Personal life

Ruiz de Pinedo is married and has two children, Jon and Haizea.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz de Pinedo, Iñaki 1954 births Basque prisoners and detainees EH Bildu politicians Euskal Herritarrok politicians Herri Batasuna politicians Living people Members of the 1st Basque Parliament Members of the 2nd Basque Parliament Members of the 3rd Basque Parliament Members of the 4th Basque Parliament Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Municipal councillors in the Basque Country (autonomous community) People from Vitoria-Gasteiz Prisoners and detainees of Spain University of Deusto alumni Academic staff of the University of the Basque Country Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain)