Pinochet judge Garzon put on trial in Spain

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Spanish judge who became an international human rights hero by charging former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has gone on trial over his handling of a domestic corruption probe in a case that could end his career.

Baltasar Garzon was appearing as a criminal defendant at Spain's Supreme Court. He is charged with overstepping his jurisdiction by ordering wiretaps of jail conversations between three defendants and their lawyers.

The trial launches a gruelling judicial ordeal for Judge Garzon, who enjoys superstar status among rights groups for championing cross-border justice but has many political enemies at home. Next week he faces another, bigger trial for probing right-wing atrocities during the 1936-1939 Spanish civil war. The crimes were covered by an amnesty passed in 1977 as Spain moved to restore democracy after decades of dictatorship under General Franco, whose side won the war. Franco died in 1975. That trial is expected to take a month or more.

The corruption case centres on a network of business people who are accused of paying off members of the conservative Popular Party - now in power in the central government - in exchange for lucrative government contracts in the Madrid and Valencia regions, according to UKPA.

Baltasar Garzón Real is a Spanish jurist who served on Spain's central criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional. He was the examining magistrate of the Juzgado Central de Instrucción No. 5, which investigates the most important criminal cases in Spain, including terrorism, organised crime and money laundering. Garzón came to international attention on 10 October 1998 when he issued an international warrant for the arrest of former Chilean president, General Augusto Pinochet, for the alleged deaths and torture of Spanish citizens.