| INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED SPANISH JUDGE | | | | was horrendously jailed for allowing his flock to eat |
| FACES SUSPENSION | | | | some protected plant species. His whole flock died in |
| "Justice or revenge ?" is the tricky question raised by | | | | his absence with the resultant national outcry. A Judge |
| most of Spain. | | | | in Malaga also struck against a separated Spanish |
| The hapless Baltazar Garzon, better known as the | | | | wife in favour of a demand from the American courts |
| Pinochet Judge, snubbed by Margaret Thatcher, is | | | | for the return of the couple´s child to her American |
| facing his own peers in what is now becoming an | | | | father. Whilst this of itself would not have struck public |
| embroiled and distinctly disturbing tussle of ideologies. It | | | | sensitivity, the dubious profile of the father was not |
| is also putting a very large question mark on the nature | | | | investigated and the eight year old child was taken |
| of the Spanish Judiciary. The extraordinary Judge | | | | without the mother´s knowledge and bundled on to a |
| Garcon had become the pride of the Spanish nation | | | | flight like a parcel. The stricken mother who had |
| for his involvement in the pursuit and judicial processing | | | | brought up the child in Spain since she left the United |
| of culprits of genocide. His order for the expatriation of | | | | States when the child was in its eighteenth month, |
| the London bound Argentinian ex dictator which the | | | | caused a hue and cry that raised funds for her to see |
| Iron Lady dismissed with the now famous remark | | | | her captive child but was curiously run over on arrival |
| "everything in Spain turns into a circus" caused an | | | | by an unknown hit and run merchant. Although the |
| international furore This did not go well in Spain but | | | | Judge apologised for his behaviour it is one of many |
| Pinochet was sent back to Argentina to face his own | | | | dictates that have not endeared the nation to this, |
| people and eventual justice. | | | | almost autocratic veneer of the Spanish government |
| | | | | system. The rank and file make no bones about calling |
| Today, Judge Garzon divides Spain into sizeable | | | | them the Gods. |
| chunks of supporters and detractors who appear to fit | | | | |
| neatly into both political parties. The accusers on the | | | | The scale of he subjective and often innappropiate |
| side of the Partido Popular, accuse him of an | | | | sentences which are almost always ratified on appeal, |
| ambiguous charge of violating the terms of the quaint | | | | were the subject of the present Prime Minister |
| law governing investigations into the past. The law | | | | Zapatero´s criticism of the system who called out |
| which was the product of the present socialist | | | | publicly recently, for transparency. He was equally |
| government, was intended to bring out into the open | | | | insistent on the need to adopt the European and |
| the well known massacres and masss burial of those | | | | international tenet of "innocent until proved guilty"which |
| who dared to affront the Spanish dictator Franco. The | | | | is not the way things are handled in most Spanish |
| crux of the issue, according to the Supreme Court, is | | | | court rooms. Because of this, the Spanish Judicial |
| that Judge Garzon has overstepped his limit and put | | | | system is considered "subjective" and the product of |
| the judicial enquiry firmly into the political arena which | | | | twisted attempts to justify personal convictions either |
| the Partido Popular states is opening up old hatreds. | | | | by the Judge or the state attorney. Whilst it is |
| Whilst there is a tendency among many to swear | | | | impossible to determine whether most sentences are |
| blindly in favour of the qualities of the dead Head of | | | | equally tainted, it is a well known fact that some go |
| State, Francisco Franco, there is also a growing | | | | beyond understanding. In Barcelona, a court ruled that a |
| mayority who think that he was guilty of open | | | | music licenced bar had broken the law consistently |
| genocide and that the countryside of Spain is littered | | | | and fined its woman owner over a quarter of a million |
| with myriads of forgotten, tortured and massacred | | | | euros – much to the horror of a highly critical media. |
| victims including whole families. The recent attempt to | | | | Additionally, cases of wrongful imprisonment for |
| recover the body of the internationally accepted | | | | murder with claimed manipulated evidence from the |
| celebrity, Garcia Lorca, was also fraught with an | | | | start have raised public fears. Overly critical |
| incredible amount of "for and against" on both sides. | | | | programmes of supposed cover ups have led to |
| The result is that many more have joined the ranks of | | | | judicial reactions including the warrant of arrest of the |
| those demanding family burial of their executed | | | | persistantly media exposed and determined father of |
| ancestors and it looks as if the figures are rising | | | | one of the tortured and killed teenage daughter who |
| sharply. Demonstrations outside the court rooms | | | | raised suspicions with hitherto discarded evidence that |
| where Baltasar Garzon has been tried, have increased | | | | people at high level were involved in her murder. The |
| in size and acclamations and it is feared that this could | | | | scenario of the spoof movie murders was elaborate |
| cause friction with pro and anti franco parties. | | | | and the semi satanic rituals equally so, demonstrating a |
| | | | | high participation of collaborators and audience. The |
| The Spanish Judicial system enjoys a nationaly | | | | crimes are one of many of a similar nature which |
| advertised bad reputation for its inefficiency and | | | | according to the father, have not been seriously |
| political tendencies. Europe herself has criticised it for | | | | investigated and it is true and only one man languishes |
| its torpid slowness and in the case of foreign investors, | | | | in prison for what many consider he was not the prime |
| for its inaction against state abuse of power against | | | | culprit. The arrest of the girl´s father was the result |
| them. Most Spanish families have been to court on | | | | of his relentless appearances on television and radio |
| one issue or another during the course of their lives | | | | with private investigators thrilling the nation with |
| and an unacceptably high number regularly for a wide | | | | fascinating arguments that led to the closure of the |
| variety of reasons. The filtering process at police level | | | | highly popular night programme and his eventual arrest |
| does not seem to exist and as a result the country is | | | | for "smearing" the police. |
| set to become the world leaders in court rooms and | | | | The present saga of Judge Garzon therefore is but |
| entire administrative buildings. Some cynics comment | | | | the straw that could break the camel´s back and |
| that the process is part of an intimidation process | | | | even more so when his translation by request of the |
| guaranteed to keep the people in line. Others propose | | | | European Union to join the staff at the International |
| that with the average length of any civil process taking | | | | Court of Justice in The Hague has been blocked |
| up to five or even ten years, that it would be far better | | | | pending sentencing. Most of Spain and an increasing |
| if these issues were handled by private enterprise | | | | number of political representatives of a wide variety of |
| before facing judgement or clogging up the rickety | | | | countries see this as an attempt to keep the horrors |
| judiciary. Another item of cricicism has been the lenient | | | | of the civil war massacres hidden from the world at |
| attitude attributed to some Judges with respect to | | | | large and that supporters of the regime remain with a |
| political and high ranking figures and the often harsh | | | | reasonable chance of regaining power. Where |
| and merciless sentencing of people hardly able to | | | | democracy would stand in this respect is as difficult to |
| defend themselves. It is true that whereas seemingly | | | | say as some aspects of the Spanish Judiciary which |
| delincuent bankers accused of exploiting privileged | | | | sins by its lack of transparency. The apparent lack of |
| information and others accused of political power | | | | understanding of the difference between Law, Justice, |
| abuse (like the "shoot to kill" policies that emanated | | | | the letter of the law and seeing that Justice is seen to |
| from them), got off lightly in the former and cushioned | | | | be done, often forms part of the accusations against it |
| shortened sentences for the latter, a poor peasant | | | | by an increasingly bitter public. |