Spain's "star judge" Garzon accused over Franco probe Edds: Adds comment by associations (2nd Roundup)

Sep 9, 2009, 12:16 GMT

Madrid - Spain's most prominent judge, Baltasar Garzon, who has pursued alleged human rights violations around the world, on Wednesday faced court proceedings accusing him of misconduct in trying to investigate similar abuses in Spain.

Garzon arrived at the Supreme Court to be interrogated over a complaint filed by two small conservative groups, which charged he overstepped his jurisdiction in trying to investigate the crimes of Spain's 1939-75 dictator Francisco Franco.

The 53-year-old judge was welcomed by supporters shouting 'Long live Garzon' and 'Freedom for Garzon,' with large numbers of police ensuring security.

The Supreme Court came under criticism for having accepted the case, with the left-leaning daily El Pais accusing its judges of being politically motivated.

Around 20 associations representing Franco's victims described the legal complaint as an attempt to gag Spain's first judicial investigation into Franco's crimes and to attack Garzon's independence and reputation.

The case raised questions about 'the entire functioning of the Spanish judicial system,' the associations said in a communique.

The far-right trade union Manos Limpias accuses Garzon of deliberate misconduct in deeming himself competent to probe Franco's human rights abuses during his dictatorship and the preceding three- year civil war.

In 2008, Garzon accused the late dictator and 44 of his collaborators of the disappearances of more than 100,000 people. Soon, however, he was forced to drop the inquiry under pressure from prosecutors who referred to an amnesty granted to Franco's collaborators in 1977.

Garzon subsequently transferred the inquiry to courts in the regions where Franco's mass graves were located.

If the Supreme Court found Garzon guilty of misconduct, he could lose his job as an investigating magistrate at the National Court, which he helped to make known for its interest in human rights cases.

The judge, who evokes envy and criticism in some, and admiration from others, became internationally known for his failed attempt to obtain the extradition of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998.

Garzon and fellow judges at the National Court have subsequently investigated human rights cases around the world, ranging from Latin America to Africa and Asia.

Garzon even indicted Osama bin Laden over the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States.

Conservatives in the opposition have opposed attempts to discuss Franco's crimes, arguing that would reopen old wounds and divide the nation.

The Association for the Recovery of Historic Memory (ARMH), the main group representing Franco's victims, said it was 'humiliating' for the victims to witness proceedings against a judge who tried to help them recover the remains of their relatives from mass graves.

Groups such as ARMH have exhumed the remains of thousands of people, but tens of thousands of others are still believed to lie in unmarked mass graves around the country.

The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists has also criticized the proceedings against Garzon, saying Spain had an 'international duty' to probe Franco's crimes.

Conservative spokeswoman Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Garzon was subject to the law like everyone else.

Garzon's critics slam him as an overly ambitious judge focusing on high-profile court cases.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialist government passed a law to restore the honour of Franco's victims, but critics saw the law as a half-hearted compromise.