MADRID (AP) — The Spanish judge who became an international human rights hero by indicting Augusto Pinochet is going on trial at home for probing rightwing atrocities during and after the civil war that brought Gen. Francisco Franco to power.
Tuesday's trial is the second in as many weeks for Baltasar Garzon, although the charges are essentially the same: that he knowingly exceeded the bounds of his authority.
Last week he stood trial for ordering jailhouse wiretaps in a corruption investigation.
In this case he has been indicted for investigating the death or disappearance of more than 100,000 civilians at the hands of Franco supporters during and after the 1936-39 war. Such crimes were covered by an amnesty passed in 1977 as Spain moved to restore democracy after Franco's death in 1975.
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