On the 40th anniversary of the execution, by firing squad, of
Pedro Martínez Expósito, who had been judged guilty of the murder
of two women, Vicente Torres describes, in an article in the El Pais
newspaper, the day and his feelings when ordered to be a member of
the military execution squad.
It is a moving article describing his feelings about his
involuntary involvement and the action on the dreadful day. He says
of the event "Did something change within us? Were we marked for
life because of this? I suppose so; we certainly could not remain
indifferent to it........I am neither ashamed nor proud of it, but I
am hurt by it”.
He makes the further point of the event during Franco's
dictatorship of Spain: "I was not about to help "do
justice." If anything, I felt I was going to add yet one more
injustice to the list. I have always considered Expósito's execution
to be a crime, a public assassination that did not compensate for his
crimes. I also thought the execution had a strong political
component".
A very moving story about a barbaric act. One cannot ignore the
fact that Pedro Martínez Expósito had ended the lives of two people
and that justice had to be carried out for this crime. But vengeful
and political based retribution is not justice. But that is what one
saw from the Fascist, Roman Catholic Church supported, military
government of Franco.
Vicente's thoughts can be read here:
The day I became an executioner · ELPAÍS.com in English
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