Charismatic judge who pursued Spain's fascist assassins finds himself on trial

Powerful enemies are attempting to unseat the 'superjudge' who tried to bring the death squads of Franco's dictatorship to book.

The Partido Popular, the national opposition party, the governing party in the Valencia region, the Alicante province and in our Orihuela Town council backs the campaign against Garzón. The party was vocal in its criticism of the Franco case. "It is outlandish," said Manuel Fraga, a former Francoist minister who is the party's founding president. The party had also lashed out at Garzón for his recent investigation into a PP corruption scandal known as the Gürtel case. Party leader Mariano Rajoy has called the wave of pro-Garzón demonstrations "anti-democratic". Coming from the PP that takes the biscuit as I know from experience of local government.

Giles Tremlett of the Guardian has written an informative article:

Charismatic judge who pursued Spain's fascist assassins finds himself on trial | World news | The Observer