The authorities in Spain have begun the process to suspend the well-known investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzón. The main reason for the move is his investigation into the fate of 114,000 people who disappeared without trace during and after the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.
The public prosecutor's office says Mr Garzón had no right to conduct the investigation because of an amnesty law introduced in Spain in 1977. But Mr Garzón says the disappearances must be considered crimes against humanity and, therefore, not covered by any amnesty.
Baltasar Garzón gained an international reputation mainly through his efforts to have former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet extradited to Spain. He has also been involved in many controversial cases in Spain, often connected with human rights or the fight against corruption. If Spain's best known judge is eventually found guilty of exceeding his authority, he could be removed from office for 20 years.
Baltasar Garzón
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It is a shame. In Spain Franco's genocide victims are buried in mass graves. There is no democratic political right. The Popular Party refused to condemn the Franco regime and its founding president was minister of the dictator. Yesterday in a cemetery in Madrid a lot of fascists celebrate a tribute to the Hitler's army and police did not stop. Judges who are chasing Baltasar Garzón swore the principles of the fascist dictatorship.
What is Spain trying to hide? Just as former Nazi criminals are still being brought to trial, so too should be the people responsible for deaths during the Spanish Civil war. Looking the other way...that is the real crime.
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