The trial of a high-profile Spanish judge accused of abusing his powers has opened in Madrid.
Judge Baltasar Garzon is perhaps best known for indicting in 1998 the late Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet for human rights violations.
Two right-wing Spanish groups accuse Garzon of abusing his powers by investigating the disappearance of 114,000 people between Spain’s 1936 civil war and the subsequent dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, which ended in 1975.
Human rights groups describe the Supreme Court trial of Garzon as a scandal.
It is one of three prosecutions brought by private parties facing Garzon.
If convicted at any of the trials, he could be suspended from the legal profession.
compiled from agency reports
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