Judge Baltasar Garzon, renowned for indicting late Chilean dictator Pinochet, may be facing the end of his career on the bench after ThursdayÂ’s ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court barring him from the judiciary for 11 years.
Garzon violated the constitutional rights of defendants in a corruption case when he ordered their communications monitored during pre-trial detention, the Spanish Supreme Court said in a unanimous ruling. By recording the jailed defendantsÂ’ telephone calls, Garzon hampered their right to a defense "without any reason that could be minimally acceptable," concluded the high court.
Garzon argued during the trial that it was necessary to monitor the defendantsÂ’ communication to ensure they did not continue to operate their purported criminal enterprise while imprisoned.
Suspended in 2010, Garzon will now be stripped of his judgeship on SpainÂ’s National Court, established to deal with terrorism as well as major drug and corruption cases.
The magistrate who indicted Pinochet and successfully prosecuted Al Qaeda and ETA terrorists still awaits a verdict in a case brought against him for allegedly violating a 1977 amnesty law by initiating investigations of the crimes of the Franco regime. Another trial, in which Garzon is charged with accepting improper payments for speeches, is ongoing. |