A top Spanish court on Friday ruled against extraditing a former policeman to Argentina, where a judge wants to try him for alleged torture during the Franco dictatorship.
The National Court, the top criminal court in the country, said Jesus Munecas's alleged crimes happened too long ago.
The court also justified the decision on the grounds that Munecas, 75, has no link to Argentina.
The former policeman was the subject of an extradition request by an Argentine judge under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows certain human rights abuses to be pursued and tried elsewhere if the country in which they occurred does not investigate.
The charges lodged in Argentina allege that Munecas, a former Civil Guard captain, and another policeman, Juan Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco, tortured prisoners towards the end of General Francisco Franco's rule.
Hundreds of Spaniards have turned to the Argentine courts to seek justice for alleged crimes committed during the country's 36-year dictatorship, which ended with Franco's death in 1975.
Munecas is accused of torturing a prisoner in 1968 at a Civil Guard Barracks in Spain's northern Basque region.
During his extradition hearing earlier this month he denied taking part in torture and told the court he did not know his alleged victim.
In its ruling, the court pointed out that in Spain the crime of torture -- which carries a prison term of six years -- has a statute of limitations of 10 years.
- 'Billy the Kid' -
The court has yet to rule on the extradition request for Gonzalez Pacheco, known as "Billy the Kid", who is accused of torturing 13 prisoners between 1971 and 1975.
The 67-year-old is said to have been particularly sadistic during Franco's regime, reportedly telling his victims how much he was enjoying hurting them.
He earned his nickname for allegedly spinning a gun around his finger as he beat his victims.
Gonzalez Pacheco denied the charges during his extradition hearing.
Dozens of angry supporters of alleged victims of Franco-era abuses protested outside the courthouse during the two men's extradition hearings.
Among the protesters were several of of Gonzalez Pacheco's alleged victims.
Spanish state prosecutor Pedro Martinez has opposed the extradition of the two men, but has said that if Argentina wants to prosecute the suspects it should do so in the Spanish courts.
"It is possible to reject extradition and, to respond to diplomatic engagements, allow Argentine authorities, if they desire, to file a complaint in Spain," he said during Gonzalez Pacheco extradition hearing on April 10.
The Argentine probe started after a much-publicised investigation by famed former Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon was ended when he was disbarred in 2012 for overstepping his jurisdiction in a separate case.
Garzon's Franco crimes probe faced stiff opposition in Spain because it was seen as going against a 1977 amnesty that was adopted to unify the country after Franco's death two years earlier.
Last October, the United Nations recommended scrapping the amnesty and urged Spain to draw up plans to search for those who disappeared during the dictatorship.
UN judicial rapporteur Pablo de Greiff in February urged Spain to scrap the amnesty law, saying it "has been used to shelve practically all of the cases brought before the judges" by people trying to prosecute alleged Franco-era atrocities in Spanish courts.
A top Spanish court on Friday ruled against extraditing a former policeman to Argentina, where a judge wants to try him for alleged torture during the Franco dictatorship.
The National Court, the top criminal court in the country, said Jesus Munecas’s alleged crimes happened too long ago.
The court also justified the decision on the grounds that Munecas, 75, has no link to Argentina.
The former policeman was the subject of an extradition request by an Argentine judge under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows certain human rights abuses to be pursued and tried elsewhere if the country in which they occurred does not investigate.
The charges lodged in Argentina allege that Munecas, a former Civil Guard captain, and another policeman, Juan Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco, tortured prisoners towards the end of General Francisco Franco’s rule.
Hundreds of Spaniards have turned to the Argentine courts to seek justice for alleged crimes committed during the country’s 36-year dictatorship, which ended with Franco’s death in 1975.
Munecas is accused of torturing a prisoner in 1968 at a Civil Guard Barracks in Spain’s northern Basque region.
During his extradition hearing earlier this month he denied taking part in torture and told the court he did not know his alleged victim.
In its ruling, the court pointed out that in Spain the crime of torture — which carries a prison term of six years — has a statute of limitations of 10 years.
– ‘Billy the Kid’ –
The court has yet to rule on the extradition request for Gonzalez Pacheco, known as “Billy the Kid”, who is accused of torturing 13 prisoners between 1971 and 1975.
The 67-year-old is said to have been particularly sadistic during Franco’s regime, reportedly telling his victims how much he was enjoying hurting them.
He earned his nickname for allegedly spinning a gun around his finger as he beat his victims.
Gonzalez Pacheco denied the charges during his extradition hearing.
Dozens of angry supporters of alleged victims of Franco-era abuses protested outside the courthouse during the two men’s extradition hearings.
Among the protesters were several of of Gonzalez Pacheco’s alleged victims.
Spanish state prosecutor Pedro Martinez has opposed the extradition of the two men, but has said that if Argentina wants to prosecute the suspects it should do so in the Spanish courts.
“It is possible to reject extradition and, to respond to diplomatic engagements, allow Argentine authorities, if they desire, to file a complaint in Spain,” he said during Gonzalez Pacheco extradition hearing on April 10.
The Argentine probe started after a much-publicised investigation by famed former Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon was ended when he was disbarred in 2012 for overstepping his jurisdiction in a separate case.
Garzon’s Franco crimes probe faced stiff opposition in Spain because it was seen as going against a 1977 amnesty that was adopted to unify the country after Franco’s death two years earlier.
Last October, the United Nations recommended scrapping the amnesty and urged Spain to draw up plans to search for those who disappeared during the dictatorship.
UN judicial rapporteur Pablo de Greiff in February urged Spain to scrap the amnesty law, saying it “has been used to shelve practically all of the cases brought before the judges” by people trying to prosecute alleged Franco-era atrocities in Spanish courts.
