MADRID, (Reuters) – A Spanish judge who won fame with his attempt to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 1990s denied breaching the rights of defendants yesterday in a trial many supporters say is a politically motivated vendetta against him.
Baltasar Garzon, who wore his robe of office for his appearance, faces three cases in his home country linked to his investigations into human rights abuses, corruption and other offences.
Garzon was once admired across the political spectrum in Spain for heading investigations against the Basque separatist group ETA.
He is also uncovered the death squads run by the Socialist government in the 1980s in its conflict with ETA, a probe credited with helping the centre-right defeat the left in 1996 elections.
But he alienated many Spaniards with his attempt to order an investigation into the killing of tens of thousands of civilians during the four-decade dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, who died in 1975.
