The superstar Spanish judge who won global fame for aggressively taking on international human rights cases has been convicted of overstepping his jurisdiction in a domestic corruption probe and barred from the bench for 11 years, marking a spectacular fall from grace for one of the nation’s most prominent citizens.
Baltasar Garzon was unanimously convicted Thursday by a seven-judge panel of the Supreme Court. Because he is 56, the punishment could end his Spanish judicial career. Hours after the verdict, hundreds of Garzon supporters braved freezing weather in Madrid’s central Sol plaza shouting “Shame! Shame!” in protest.
It was just one of three cases pending against Garzon, who is still awaiting a verdict in trial on the same charge _ knowingly overstepping the bounds of his jurisdiction _ for launching a probe in 2008 of right-wing atrocities committed during and after the Spanish civil war of 1936-1939 even though the crimes were covered by a 1977 amnesty.
In Thursday’s verdict, the court ruled that Garzon acted arbitrarily in ordering jailhouse wiretaps of detainees talking to their lawyers, the court said, adding that his actions “these days are only found in totalitarian regimes.”
Ironically, Garzon is best known for indicting a totalitarian ruler, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, in 1998, and trying to put him on trial in Madrid for crimes against humanity. He also indicted Osama bin Laden in 2003 over the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
The verdict came despite declarations by Spanish prosecutors that Garzon committed no crime. The charges against him stem from a complaint filed by lawyers who were taped in prison while visiting their clients. In a quirk of Spanish law, people can seek criminal charges even if prosecutors disagree.
Garzon took on cases using the principle of universal jurisdiction _ the idea that some crimes are so heinous they can be prosecuted anywhere. He and colleagues at the National Court went on to champion the doctrine and try to apply it to abuses in far-flung places like Rwanda and Tibet.
Legal experts have said Spain’s Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, probably won’t accept an appeal of the judge’s conviction, although Garzon’s lawyer could try, or file an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, that would likely take years.
The lawyer, Francisco Javier Baena Bocanegra told the Cadena Ser radio network that Garzon was “suffering severely,” but suggested he will appeal. “He is completely innocent,” Bocanegra said. “We face a long road ahead, but we still have strength.”
Garzon also said he was evaluating his appeal options without offering specifics, and vehemently denied breaking any laws.
“I have worked against terrorism, drug trafficking, crimes against humanity and corruption. I’ve done it with the law in hand, together with prosecutors, judges and police,” he said in a statement. “I have always strictly complied with the rules, I have defended the rights of defendants and victims in very adverse situations.”
Human rights groups that hold up Garzon as a hero slammed the decision, saying he was targeted by critics who wanted to bring him down.
“It looks like Garzon’s enemies got what they wanted. Absent compelling reasons, the criminal prosecution of a judge for his judicial actions undermines the independence of the judiciary,” said Reed Brody, a senior legal expert for Human Rights Watch.
Although Garzon enjoyed rock-star status among rights groups at home and abroad, he made many enemies in Spain, especially judicial colleagues uncomfortable with his celebrity and allegedly corner-cutting tactics in legal procedures, and conservative politicians who claimed he was more interested in fame than justice.
In the civil war case, the amnesty law came two years after the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, the victor in the war, as Spain moved to restore democracy and rebuild after nearly 40 years of rule under Franco.
The civil war trial concluded on Wednesday, but that verdict is not expected for weeks. Garzon has been suspended from his job at the National Court since 2010 when he was indicted in that case.
Garzon faces more legal woes in Spain from a probe that could see him indicted over ties with a big Spanish bank that financed human rights seminars he oversaw while on sabbatical in New York in 2005 and 2006.
Thursday’s conviction relates to Garzon’s decision in 2009 to order wiretaps of jailhouse conversations between lawyers and detainees accused of paying off politicians of the now-ruling conservative Popular Party to obtain lucrative government contracts in the Madrid and Valencia regions.
Such wiretaps are permitted for terrorism cases, but Spanish law is more vague on non-terror cases.
Garzon argued that he ordered the wiretaps because of suspicions the lawyers were being given instructions by the detainees to launder money.
But the Supreme Court said Thursday that Garzon had no legitimate reason to suspect the lawyers, ruling that the wiretaps were not justified and violated the detainees’ right to a fair defense.
The judges wrote that Garzon engaged in “practices that these days are only found in totalitarian regimes in which anything is considered fair game in order to obtain information that interests, or supposedly interests, the state.”
In the civil war case, prosecutors also say Garzon committed no crime. Those charges stem from a complaint filed by two small right-wing groups.
After Garzon was indicted and suspended in 2010, he took a six-month job in The Hague at the International Criminal Court as an adviser to its chief prosecutor. After that, he accepted a position as a human rights adviser to the government of Colombia, which is fighting leftist rebels and powerful drug lords. So even if Garzon’s career ends in Spain, he could presumably accept a similar position.
Protesters said Garzon’s conviction was a major setback for Spanish democracy.
“Spanish justice is shameful,” said Diego Torrel, a 53-year-old railway construction worker. “It seems like we still have the same judges we had during the Franco era.” (AP)
<관련 한글 기사>
\r\n빈라덴에게 영장 발부했던 판사, 자격정지
\r\n반인도적 범죄에 대해 ‘보편적 관할권’을 주장하면서 ‘인권 판사’로 국제적인 명성을 받아온 스페인의 발타사르 가르손 판사가 대법 원으로부터 11년의 자격 정지 판결을 받았다.
이에 따라 56세라는 가르손 판사의 나이를 감안하면 스페인 내 판사 생활도 사실상 마감됐다.
스페인 대법원은 9일(현지시간) 집권 국민당 관계자 등이 연루된 것으로 보이는 비리 사건과 관련해 불법도청을 지시했다는 가르손 판사의 혐의에 대해 이같이 유죄 판결을 내렸다.
대법원 판사 7명이 참여한 재판부는 만장일치의 판결문에서 가르손 판사가 자의 적으로 교도소 내 수감자와 변호인 간의 대화를 녹음하도록 지시했다며 "가르손의 행위는 오늘날 전체주의 정권들에서나 볼 수 있는 일"이라고 지적했다.
그러나 가르손은 판결 후 성명을 통해 "나는 법을 존중하면서 테러리즘과 마약 밀거래, 반인도주의 범죄, 부패와 싸워 왔다"며 "또 항상 법을 엄격하게 적용해 왔으며 서로 반대 상황에 있는 피고인과 희생자의 권리를 옹호해왔다"고 밝혔다.
그의 변호인은 가르손의 무죄를 확신한다며 "갈 길이 멀지만 우리는 아직 힘이 있다"며 법적인 싸움을 계속하겠다는 입장을 밝혔다.
가르손 측은 이번 사안을 스페인 헌법재판소로 가져간다는 입장이지만 전문가들 은 가르손 측의 주장이 받아들여지기는 쉽지 않을 것으로 보고 있다.
이번 판결이 나자 가르손의 지지자들 약 600명은 마드리드 중심부의 명소인 ‘푸 에르타 델 솔(태양의 문)’ 광장에 모여 "수치스런 판결", "우리는 가르손 같은 판사를 더 필요로 한다"고 외치며 불만을 표시했다.
국제법률가위원회(ICJ)를 비롯한 국제단체들도 합당한 이유없이 판사의 활동을 범죄로 단죄하는 것은 사법부의 독립을 헤치는 행위라며 비판했다.
앞서 스페인 검사들도 가르손의 범죄 혐의가 인정되지 않는다고 선언했지만, 스페인 법률은 검사들의 기소독점주의를 인정하지 않아 재판은 계속됐다.
가르손은 이번 재판과는 별개로 스페인 내전과 프랑코 독재 때 발생한 수만명의 실종자와 관련해 직권을 남용해 수사를 지시한 혐의, 2005~2006년 안식년 중 뉴욕에 서 인권세미나를 주관하면서 스페인 대형 은행으로부터 자금 지원을 받은 혐의 등으 로도 기소된 상태다.
가르손의 변호인들은 이들 재판이 스페인 내전과 프랑코 독재시대 동안 자행된 범죄를 처벌하지 못하도록 정치적 기도에서 비롯된 것이라고 주장하고 있다.
가르손 판사는 반인도적 범죄에 ‘보편적 관할권’ 이론을 적용, 칠레의 전 독재자 아우구스토 피노체트와 알 카에다의 지도자 오사마 빈 라덴에게 체포영장을 발부 하는 등 국제사회의 주목을 받은 인물이다.
특히 1998년 피노체트의 추방을 심리하는 재판을 주재하면서 ‘사법 영웅’으로 명성을 떨쳤다.
앞서 가르손 판사는 2010년 5월 법관 직무를 정지당했으며, 이후 헤이그의 국제 사법재판소 고문을 거쳐 콜롬비아 정부의 인권 고문직을 맡았다.
이에 따라 일부에서는 가르손이 스페인에서 직접 재판하기는 어렵겠지만 직무 정지 후 맡은 것과 유사한 업무를 계속 할 것으로 보고 있다. (연합뉴스)
