Prominent judge joins war protest

last updated 8 January 2015

Madrid

Spain’s most famous judge, Baltasar Garzon, announced this week that he was firmly opposed to the “madness” the U.S. was perpetrating in Iraq. Garzon is best known for his indictment of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for torturing Spanish citizens—and for an attempt to subpoena former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger as a witness in that trial. He is highly respected but rarely comments on politics. At one of Spain’s many anti-war rallies, Garzon said the U.N. was being “destroyed by thousands of bombs and missiles launched through an arbitrary, unilateral decision.” The Spanish government supports the U.S. and British war in Iraq, but polls indicate that more than 90 percent of the Spanish people are against the war.