Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón, who is known for ordering the arrest of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and seeking to indict members of the Bush administration for their role in torturing prisoners is now Garzón himself is facing trial in Madrid, after right-wing groups objected to his investigation of atrocities committed by supporters of the dictator Francisco Franco. The human rights crimes came during Franco’s reign from 1936 to 1975. More than 100,000 opponents of the regime were executed or disappeared. While prosecutors reportedly disagreed with the charges that Garzón had exceeded his authority, Spanish law allows civilians to lodge criminal charges. Yesterday, Judge Garzón testified in his own defense at Spain’s Supreme Court.
“I am not going to respond to any of the questions from the prosecution, as I consider that they are not legitimate to be in this room acting as prosecutors.” Garzón said.
If convicted, Garzón could lose his right to sit as a judge in Spain. Judge Garzón has used the doctrine of universal jurisdiction to investigate war crimes and torture across national lines, famously indicting Osama bin Laden and other members of al-Qaeda in 2003 and attempting to indict members of the Bush administration for authorizing torture at Guantánamo and overseas. In 1998, he ordered the arrest of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, leading to Pinochet’s arrest. Garzón’s supporters were disappointed after the court failed to throw out the case yesterday in Madrid.
– from democracynow.org