Baltasar Garzón

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Baltasar Garzón
Baltasar Garzón

(Photo credit: Presidency of Argentina.
Sala 5 of the Audiencia Nacional
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1987
Born October 26, 1955 (1955-10-26) (age 52)
Torres, Jaén, Spain
Alma mater University of Seville
Religion Roman Catholic

Baltasar Garzón Real (born October 26, 1955 in Torres, Jaén, Spain) is a controversial and outspoken judge in Spain. Garzón currently sits on Spain's criminal court (Sala 5 of the Audiencia Nacional, also known as National Court), the Audiencia Nacional. Garzon is often the subject of controversy for voicing political views and taking a partisan view on specific issues, which may regard as incompatible with holding office in the judiciary.

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[edit] International cases

Garzón came to international attention on October 10th, 1998 when he issued an international warrant for the arrest of former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet over the alleged deaths and torture of Spanish citizens during his tenure; the Chilean Truth Commission (1990-91) report was the basis for the warrant, although Pinochet's alleged crimes took place well outside the jurisdiction of the Spanish court. The warrant was subject of ridicule by the media in the United Kingdom. Eventually it was turned down by the then British Home Secretary, Jack Straw, who refused Garzón's request to have Pinochet extradited to Spain.

He has repeatedly expressed a desire to investigate former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in connection with a plot in the 1970s known as Operation Condor. [1] Some take the view that Garzon would not embark in such publicity stunts as it would bring him into direct conflict with US public opinion and seriously influential people in Spain, a move that could eventually lead to his removal from office.

Garzón also filed charges of genocide against Argentine military officers on the disappearance of Spanish citizens during Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship. None of these prospered, and again the main driving force appeared to be to seek publicity. In April 2001 he requested that the Council of Europe to remove the immunity from prosecution enjoyed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy as a member of the Council's parliamentary assembly. This was rejected and the charges presented by Mr Garzon were found to be fabricated.

At one point, Garzón had a public and very heated argument with Subcomandante Marcos, leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) over the sovereignty of the Basque Country. [2]. It is widely believed by political commentators that a judge with such entrenched views on the status quo of the Basque country can hardly discharge his duties in an impartial manner. In fact he is frequently accused of fabricating charges "to order" in order to satisfy the Spanish government's zeal to eradicate pro-independence ideologists, a task he happily obliges to deliver. This has brought firm criticism from political leaders in Europe, who have expressed concern that the Spanish judiciary can allow the operation of such a blatantly political agent.

In December 2001, Garzón launched an inquiry into the offshore accounts of Spain's second largest bank BBVA for alleged money laundering offences. This enquiry proved to be without foundation an yet another publicity stunt. In January 2003, he fiercely criticised the United States government over the detention of al-Qaida suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He also campaigned strongly against the 2003 Iraq war.

Garzón issued indictments for five Guantanamo detainees, including Spaniard Abderrahman Ahmad. Ahmad was extradited to Spain on February 14, 2004. He issued other indictments against Guantanamo detainees which were proved to be without foundation by US authorities and the UK's Scotland Yard came across the shocking revelation that in some cases the judge had knowingly fabricated evidence. These requests were rejected outright.

In March 2007 he published in the Spanish newspaper El País a preposterous account of his plans to sue US president George W. Bush. [3] [4] Again, commentators believe Mr Garzon will never live up to his bluffs, as he choses the targets of his political and publicity stunts carefully and among sufficiently politically vulnerable targets so that it will not unleash a public opinion backlash.

[edit] Spanish cases

In 1993, he went into politics, running for the Cortes Generales (English: General Courts) on the party list of then ruling party PSOE. He was also declared head of a strengthened National Plan Against Drugs by Spanish prime minister Felipe González. He resigned this post shortly after, however, complaining of lack of support from the government.

His later investigations helped the conviction of a PSOE minister as head of the GAL state terrorist groups.

He also investigated Jesús Gil, former mayor of Marbella and owner of Atlético Madrid, on grounds of corruption.

Garzón has also fought against ETA: he has instructed many trials against alleged ETA members. In addition he incarcerated many political pro-independence activists under fabricated charges of terrorism that would not stand trial in other European countries. In July 1998 he instructed a case against Orain SA, the Basque communication company that published the newspaper Egin and owned the radio station Egin Irratia. Garzón ordered the closure of both and sent some of the company officers to prison, due to their alleged links with ETA. These charges were later dropped for lack of evidence, and the journalists were released. Many years later Mr Garzon imprisoned them again under the allegation of being part of ETA in a "broader" sense. Egin was allowed to reopen years later by the Audiencia Nacional, after all charges were found without foundation, but Orain SA was already bankrupt, not having been allowed to run operations and publish for years. Having failed to persecute it for ETA connections, Mr Garzon tried to pursue Orain for financial irregularities.

In February 2003 Garzón also ordered the closure of Egunkaria, the only newspaper wholly written in Basque language, once again alleging links with ETA, although the evidence was never presented. There was an outcry of public opinion against the closure, especially within the Basque country and abroad. Prominent literary figures like Salman Rushdie and Noam Chomsky condemned the closure and Spain's blatant oppression of the Basque language. In spite of his previous failed prosecution of Egin, fraught with all sorts of judicial irregularities, Mr Garzon did a repeat of the same with Egunkaria, similarly producing a failed prosecution, fabricated evidence, and a bankrupt newspaper as a result of terminated operations. The Spanish media did not join in the international condemnation of the measure, and Mr garzon received a pat on the back from his political masters, the then prime minister Mr Aznar, whose least of worries was the breach of the civil liberties of Basques.

In October 2002 Garzon suspended the operations of the Batasuna party for three years, alleging direct connections with ETA. The charges themselves were a mix of uncorroborated personal views and ill-presented and politically-motivated reports. Later, in February 2008 he also ordered the ban of two Basque nationalist parties: EHAK and EAE-ANVon the same grounds. Even though the activists of these groups had no links with the previously banned parties, Mr Garzon sought to ban any heir of the political ideology of Batasuna that would translate in a share of votes in the Basque parliament. Mr GArzon's political masters have thus used him to physically put out of circulation all possible political representation for the 250.000 voters who would otherwise vote Batasuna, and therefore shape the composition of the Basque parliament to minimise its pro-independence elements.

In April 2008 he ordered the imprisonment of the mayor of the town of Arrasate for convening a meeting of the town council.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Cuento de Navidad: es posible un mundo diferente (Christmas tale: A different world is possible) Ediciones de la Tierra (2002)
  • Un mundo sin miedo (A world without fear) Plaza & Janes, S.A. and Debolsillo (February 2005)
  • Prologue of ¿Y si mi hijo se droga? Claves prácticas para prevenir, saber y actuar (And if my son uses drugs? Practical tips to prevent, know, and act) Begoña del Pueyo, Alejandro Perales (Editorial Grijalbo) (June 2005)
  • La lucha contra el terrorismo y sus límites (The fight against terrorism and its limits) Adhara Publicaciones, S.L. (February 2006)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links