National
Judge Garzón investigation of Civil War deaths upsets some in Spain
By h.b. - Sep 3, 2008 - 7:53 AM
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A group of judges from the National Court in Spain have written to the General Council for Judicial Power, the organisation which oversees the judiciary in Spain, defending Judge Baltasar Garzón after he was attacked in yesterday’s editorial column in the El Mundo newspaper. The judges consider the editorial piece ‘exceeds the limits of criticism in judicial resolutions’ and contained ‘unjust and arbitrary opinions’.
The newspaper came down hard on the decision of the judge to move ahead with the creation of list of those who disappeared during the Spanish Civil War.
It’s a sign of how the judge’s move has reactivated the controversy over the Government’s Historical Memory Law. Left wing parties IU, ERC and the Socialists PSOE all support the judge, as does Amnesty International, while the Partido Popular and some judges have come out against the move. PP leader Mariano Rajoy said he was not in favour of ‘opening the wounds of the past as it would lead to nothing’.
Judge Baltasar Garzón has now given those he had asked for details of those killed in local parishes and in the four cities of Madrid, Granada, Sevilla and Córdoba, a period of 15 days to supply him with the information. Then he says he will be able to decide if he is competent to investigate the case or not.
The Catalan regional government is reported already to have given the judge its own list of those to disappear during the Civil War.
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