Spain's leading human rights judge Baltasar Garzon convicted of wiretapping
Spain's Supreme Court convicted judge Baltasar Garzon on Thursday in an illegal wiretapping case, ending the judicial career of a man who won world renown for pursuing human rights abuses and Augusto Pinochet's arrest.
A supporter of Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon attends a protest in Madrid Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images
"We condemn the accused, Baltasar Garzon, as the author of the crime of
abusing his authority ... to 11 years' suspension from his duty as judge or
magistrate," the court's ruling read.
Garzon, 56, who found international fame for trying to extradite Chile's
former dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998, was found guilty of ordering
illegal recordings of corruption suspects talking to their lawyers.
The suspension effectively ends Garzon's career as a judge.
He is also awaiting judgment in a second trial for trying to investigate
atrocities of the Franco era, in an alleged breach of an amnesty.
Garzon's defenders say both trials are politically motivated bids to stop him
prosecuting crimes committed during Spain's 1936-1939 Civil War and the
subsequent dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.
The sentence, passed unanimously by the seven judges of the Supreme Court,
imposes "the definitive loss of the duty and the honours that he bears"
as a judge of Spain's National Court, the written judgment said.
It bans him from "obtaining during the duration of the sentence any
employment or duty with judicial or governing functions within the judiciary"
and imposes a small fine.
Garzon pleaded innocent, saying the wiretaps were legal since the lawyers
themselves were implicated in the case and he wanted to prevent alleged
money-laundering continuing while the suspects were in jail.
In a second trial which wrapped up on Wednesday, he was prosecuted for
ordering an investigation into the disappearance of tens of thousands of
people who victims' associations say were murdered by Franco's supporters.
Garzon argues that the acts were crimes against humanity and not subject to an
amnesty.
No date has been set for a verdict in the second trial. If convicted in that
case, he could receive a further 20-year suspension.
Garzon in 1998 ordered 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.
He has been suspended as a judge in Spain since May 2010 when the charges were
brought against him and has been working as a consultant at the
International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Source: AFP