Garzón acquitted in Franco-probe misconduct case

Fired High Court Judge Baltasar Garzón escaped a second misconduct conviction on Monday when the Supreme Court acquitted him of all charges related to trying to open an investigation into crimes committed during the Civil War and the subsequent Francisco Franco dictatorship.

The decision comes more than two weeks after the same top court decided to throw the human rights crusader off the bench for 11 years after convicting him of illegally recording the phone conservations of jailed suspects in the Gürtel corruption scheme and their lawyers.

In its sentence, the Supreme Court justices said that while Garzón didn’t breach his judicial duties by trying to open the Franco-era inquiry in 2008, the former investigating judge did commit an error by declaring that crimes committed at that time were human rights abuses because current Spanish legislation – specifically the 1977 amnesty provision – doesn’t characterize them in such a manner.

The ruling also criticizes the so-called truth trials Garzón wanted to hold because while they may be valid in countries such as Argentina, they are unacceptable under Spanish law because such investigations are only possible when there is a living defendant.

This was Garzón’s second acquittal by the top court. Earlier this month, justices decided not to prosecute him on charges that he took money from Banco Santander to organize a series of lectures at New York University. He has said he plans to appeal the Gürtel-related conviction to the Constitutional Court or the European Court of Justice.