Interviews

Crusading Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón on Trial

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Baltasar Garzón, the controversial Spanish judge known for indicting the former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, is now on trial himself, for his handling of a corruption investigation.

Garzón sat in the dock Tuesday at the Spanish Supreme Court wearing his judge’s gown. He’s facing charges of abusing his powers and ordering illegal phone-tapping.

Demonstrators convened outside the court in support of Garzón. They say Garzón is being persecuted because he planned to investigate human rights crimes committed under the dictatorship of Spanish General Francisco Franco.

Giles Tremlett, Madrid correspondent for the British paper, The Guardian, has been following the trial. He says the proceedings might spell the end of Garzón’s tenure as a Spanish magistrate.

Tremlett is author of a new book about the Spanish Civil War called Ghosts of Spain.  He says Tuesday’s trial is proof of how deep the scars of the Spanish Civil War run, and how hard it’s been to heal the wounds.

This is the first of three separate cases against Garzón.  Next week he’ll stand trial for alleged criminal malfeasance for investigating cases of illegal detention and enforced disappearances committed during the Franco dictatorship.

Garzón investigated the cases despite Spain’s controversial 1977 amnesty law for “political acts”. Prosecutors say Garzón deliberately ignored the amnesty law.  Garzón has countered the accusation, by saying disappearances are kidnappings, and it is valid to pursue them because they are ongoing cases.

If Garzón is found guilty, he’ll be banned from working as a magistrate in Spain for up to 17 years.

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Marco Werman: In Spain sometimes those charged with protecting the law get into legal trouble. Today, the country’s most prominent judge went on trial. Baltasar Garzon is best known for seeking to extradite former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet in the 1990s. But today Garzon appeared before Spain’s Supreme Court. He’s accused of abusing his powers and ordering illegal phone tapping. Next week he stands trial for investigating atrocities carried out during the Spanish Civil War. Giles Tremlett is the Madrid correspondent for The Guardian newspaper. How confident is Garzon in his defense in this particular case?

Giles Tremlett: Well, he’s very confident in court, but I know that in private he believes that his fellow judges have decided they are fed up with him and they want to get rid of him. And he’s basically facing an extraordinary series of cases. There’s three cases against him in the Supreme Court. That is something never ever happened before; it’s very rare in fact for a judge to have even one case going against him.

Werman: Why is all this coming down on Garzon all at the same time?

Tremlett: Garzon is a man with very many enemies. You have to remember he’s taken down everybody from government officials, state terrorism, political corruption, separatist terrorism in the Basque country, as well of course, former dictators in Argentina and Chile, so he’s a man with a huge number of enemies and they are certainly very keen to get him. And that is something that splits Spaniards down the middle. Many of them are outraged seeing Judge Garzon in the dock, but also quite a few of them are delighted.

Werman: Now, next week Garzon goes on trial for investigating crimes from the Spanish Civil War period, the late 1930s, why was that a problem, that investigation?

Tremlett: The mood of the accusation is that he has decided to simply ignore the amnesty law that was passed in 1977. What the judge himself argued and what was really a very famous decision is he said, “Well, that’s all very well, but when someone has disappeared that crime is basically a kidnapping, and that crime is basically still going on today. So the amnesty law might deal with crimes previous to 1977, but anyone who’s disappeared, the crime is still basically being committed. And therefore, can be investigated today.”

Werman: Giles, if convicted in any of these cases what kind of shadow is that going to cast on Garzon’s own pursuit of cases?

Tremlett: Well, Garzon himself will be basically banned from working at the magistrate in Spain for 15-17 years I think on the sentence. However, various international bodies are very keen to sign him up. He was recently working as a special adviser at The Hague while he had been suspended from the Spanish courts while these investigations were going on. He is very popular outside of Spain and very respected for what me might call the Garzon theory of human rights, which is that where abuses have been carried out in one country, but that country will not, cannot investigate them, then it is the duty of other countries to do that. That he successful did in Spain with Argentina’s military junta. There are people who worked for them who are in Spanish jails at the moment, and that really pushed forward the frontiers of international human rights crimes.

Werman: Giles Tremlett, Madrid correspondent for The Guardian newspaper, thank you.

Tremlett: Thank you very much.

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The New York Times published an editorial, calling the case against Garzón “politically driven”. Groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International allege that the Garzón trial threatens the concept of accountability in Spain and beyond.

Read More
• BBC News: Pinochet judge Baltasar Garzon goes on trial in Spain
• Spanish judge who took on Pinochet goes on trial, The Guardian
• Human Rights Watch: Spain: Garzón Trial Threatens Human Rights
• BBC News: Profile: Judge Baltasar Garzon
• Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country's Hidden Past by Giles Tremlett