Spain’s dictator-hunting judge tried

MADRID (AFP) ― A Spanish judge who gained international attention by pursuing former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet went on trial himself Tuesday, accused of abuse of power in an illegal wiretapping case.

Judge Baltasar Garzon appeared in the Supreme Court in Madrid in one of three cases which his defenders say are politically motivated bids to stop him prosecuting crimes dating from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

Garzon, 56, is alleged to have ordered illegal wiretaps in a corruption case involving members of the conservative Popular Party, which returned to power in Spain last month.

Garzon “tried to intercept communications of the lawyers with the inmates Francisco Correa and Pablo Crespo,” two of the suspects in the corruption investigation, a court official said, reading out the charges.

They accuse him of recording confidential conversations they had with their lawyers in jail. Garzon argues that the wiretaps were justified since the lawyers themselves were implicated in the case.

“It is obvious that my interpretation is that the wiretaps could be carried out with judicial authorization,” he told the court.

“The prisoners’ calls were intercepted... to prevent the continuation of the criminal activity related to the money laundering,” he added.

Most of his testimony was related to procedural issues. The trial is due to last three days.

Garzon won international prominence in 1998 by ordering the extradition of Pinochet from Britain for alleged atrocities during Chile’s dictatorship. The judge has also pursued members of the former dictatorship in Argentina.

If convicted in the current trial, Garzon would not go to prison but could be suspended from the legal profession for 17 years.

In a second case opening January 24 he is prosecuted for ordering an investigation into the disappearance of tens of thousands of people during Spain’s 1936-39 civil war and Franco’s subsequent dictatorship.

Garzon is charged with exceeding his powers on the grounds that the alleged crimes were covered by an amnesty agreed after Franco’s death. Garzon argued that the acts were crimes against humanity and not subject to the amnesty.

In a third trial, for which the date has not yet been set, the judge ― who has been suspended since May 2010 ― is accused of taking bribes over payments he allegedly received for seminars in New York.

In that case, Spain’s biggest bank Santander allegedly made indirect payments to Garzon for the seminars and the judge later shelved a tax lawsuit against the bank.

Arriving at court on Tuesday, Garzon smiled as he was applauded by a small crowd of supporters who were held back behind a police line.

“They are covering up their crimes by going after Garzon,” read one of the signs held by protestors.

Garzon’s supporters argue the cases against him are a politically motivated attempt to stop the judge probing into abuses during Franco’s regime, still a divisive subject more than 35 years after the dictator’s death.

Among the protestors outside the court was Gaspar Llamazares, a prominent member of parliament for the left-wing IU party.

“We are faced with an act that shames Spanish democracy, justice and the Supreme Court itself ― judging an innocent person for trying to judge Francoism and also for trying to fight corruption,” Llamazares said.

“I think the damage is done and the sentence is predetermined.”

Actress Pilar Bardem, the mother of Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem, was also among the protestors.

“I am here in support of Garzon because I believe in his innocence, because I believe he is a judge who has done a lot for this country,” she said.