The Spanish judge who became an international hero by going after former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and Osama bin Laden was suspended on Friday for allegedly abusing his authority by investigating what is arguably Spain’s own biggest unresolved case: atrocities committed during and after its ruinous Civil War.
The punishment could effectively end Judge Baltasar Garzon’s career.
The unanimous decision by a judicial oversight board, the General Council of the Judiciary, was made during an emergency meeting about Garzon, its spokeswoman, Gabriela Bravo, said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Supporters chanted, cheered and clapped later as Garzon emerged from the nearby National Court, where he works. He hugged co-workers and appeared to be holding back tears before getting into a bulletproof limousine and riding away.
Garzon, 54, famous worldwide for his cross-border justice cases, has been removed from his post pending his trial on charges of knowingly going beyond the limits of his jurisdiction in 2008 by investigating the execution or disappearance of more than 100,000 civilians at the hands of supporters of General Francisco Franco during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War or in the early years of the Franco dictatorship.
Until Garzon acted, there had been no official probe of such atrocities, which were covered by an amnesty granted by Spain’s Parliament in 1977, two years after Franco died, as the country moved toward reconciliation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Spain’s current Socialist government, which has generally been supportive of Garzon, said it respected the judiciary watchdog’s decision but insisted he is innocent until proven guilty.
“The process is not over,” Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said.
Some say Garzon’s legal woes also have resulted from anger about the way he operated. Fellow judges accustomed to discretion in the judiciary system appeared to be fed up with his aggressive, headline-grabbing style and his status akin to that of a rock star among his most fervent fans, many of them living overseas in areas such as Latin America.
Garzon’s critics also said he had a spotty record in winning convictions in high-profile cases and sometimes cut procedural corners.
The judge is under investigation in two other cases as well: one involving money that a Spanish bank paid to sponsor human rights seminars he gave while on sabbatical in New York a few years ago, and another in connection with jailhouse wiretaps he ordered as part of a probe targeting the conservative opposition Popular Party.
The panel that suspended him on Friday is made up of political appointees and is deeply divided along party lines.
Garzon was indicted last month by the Supreme Court in the civil war case, and this week the court threw out a final appeal that could have spared him from going on trial soon. The judicial oversight body then had no choice but to suspend Garzon.
Even though the decision was widely expected, many in Spain are treating it as marking the end of Garzon’s career, regardless of what the verdict in the trial might be. Garzon’s lawyer, Gonzalo Martinez-Fresneda, said as much a few weeks ago.
Earlier this week, Garzon requested a leave of absence from his post at the National Court to accept a job offer at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This was seen as an effort to shield himself from suspension.
A subcommittee of the judiciary board met on Friday evening to see if the suspended Garzon can be allowed to take up that job without resigning from his post in Madrid but it postponed a decision.
As the group deliberated, some 500 people gathered outside the National Court to protest the suspension, blocking traffic and chanting slogans against fascism and in support of the judge and justice for the victims of the Franco repression.
Garzon shot to fame after having Pinochet arrested while the aging former despot was visiting London in 1998, and trying in vain to have him extradited to Spain for trial over torture and other abuses committed during his dictatorship in Chile. With that, he was credited with ushering in a new era in international law.
Garzon also indicted bin Laden in 2003, and Spanish colleagues took on cases involving abuses in such faraway places as Tibet and Rwanda.
As a result, Garzon’s name became synonymous with the concept of universal jurisdiction — the idea that some crimes are so heinous they can be prosecuted anywhere. But extraditions have been rare, and there has only been one conviction, that of an Argentine “dirty war” suspect in 2005.
And after receiving complaints from countries targeted in such Spanish probes, such as Israel, Spain changed its law last year so that these cases now require a clear link to Spain, such as Spanish victims.
On Friday, human rights groups lamented how Garzon is being treated.
“Judge Garzon’s suspension will be mourned by human rights activists around the world. Garzon helped to deliver justice for atrocity victims abroad, and now he’s being punished for trying to do the same thing at home,” said Reed Brody, legal counsel for Human Rights Watch.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS