Top Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon will stand trial for abuse of power for launching a probe into atrocities committed during the country’s civil war and subsequent dictatorship, a court source said Wednesday.
Supreme Court investigating magistrate Luciano Varela will officially notify the judge, known round the world for his campaigns against former Latin American dictators, of the decision later on Wednesday, the source told AFP.
Varela ruled in February that Garzon ignored an amnesty decreed by parliament in 1977 for civil war-era crimes when he launched in 2008 a probe into the disappearance of tens of thousands of people during Spain’s 1936-39 civil war and the subsequent dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.
But Garzon appealed the ruling, denying that he had abused his power. The case against him was put forward by far-right group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands).
Varela’s decision will likely mean that Garzon will be temporarily suspended as a judge on Spain’s High Court, which is responsible for crimes against humanity, organised crime and terrorismcases.
