Madrid  - Forty-four Basque separatists face trial in Spain after a judge accused them of links with the militant separatist group ETA, judicial sources said Monday.

Judge Baltasar Garzon launched proceedings against 44 members of the banned Basque parties Batasuna, Basque Nationalist Action (ANV) and Communist Party of Basque Lands (PCTV).

The parties have been barred from elections on grounds of being related to ETA, which has killed more than 800 people since 1968.

The accused included Batasuna leaders Joseba Permach, Pernando Barrena, and Juan Jose Petrikorena, as well as Inocencia Galparsoro, mayor of the locality of Mondragon.

The Spanish judiciary has increasingly targeted, not only ETA itself, but related groups as well. (dpa)