Argentine Court Orders Arrest of Spanish Officials for Crimes Against Humanity

An Argentine judge has ordered the arrest of 20 Spanish ex-officials suspected of crimes committed during dictator Francisco Franco’s 1939-1975 regime and the 1975-1977 transition to democracy, including former ministers Rodolfo Martin Villa and Jose Utrera Molina, judiciary officials said.

Federal Judge Maria Servini de Cubria’s ruling, handed down Friday, calls on Interpol to issue arrest warrants for the suspects for purposes of their extradition to Argentina for questioning, the Judicial Information Center said.

The 80-year-old Martin Villa, who served as labor minister between 1975 and 1976 and had previously held senior posts during Franco’s regime, is accused in the March 1976 deaths of five workers during police action to quell a protest.

Utrera Molina, who was housing minister in 1973 and minister secretary general of the Franco-led National Movement party from 1974-1975, is accused of signing the death sentence handed down to anarchist Salvador Puig Antich, in what was the last use of the garrote as a method of execution in Spain.

Utrera Molina is the father-in-law of Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, who was justice minister in current Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Cabinet from December 2011 until September of this year.

Servini de Cubria also asked Interpol to arrest Fernando Suarez, who was Spain’s labor minister and deputy prime minister in 1975, for his alleged responsibility for death sentences handed down against five individuals (two members of ETA and three members of the FRAP – Revolutionary Antifascist and Patriotic Front-) who were the last to be executed by firing squad during the Franco regime.

The Argentine federal judge invoked the principle of universal jurisdiction, which holds that courts in any country may act in instances of offenses deemed crimes against humanity.

In statements to Efe, one of the plaintiffs in the case, Adriana Fernandez, said she was “proud, as a granddaughter of Republicans and as an Argentine, that there can be justice here for the victims of Spain, because regrettably there’s no justice there for these cases.”

Fernandez’s attorney, Maximo Castex, told Efe he was confident the accused will have to appear in Spanish court in response to the extradition requests, as occurred in the case of two alleged torturers – former police inspector Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco, alias Billy the Kid; and ex-Civil Guard Capt. Jesus Muñecas Aguilar.

Spain’s National Court refused to extradite both men, who were the subjects of an earlier arrest and extradition order by Servini de Cubria, ruling that the statute of limitations had expired and that the crimes they were accused of did not constitute genocide.

The complaint that led to the Argentine court’s investigation covers a period between July 1936, when Franco led a military uprising against the elected government, and July 1977, when Spain held its first democratic elections following the dictator’s death.

Published in Latino Daily News