It is the first time that a prosecutor from the Human Rights and Democratic Memory Unit led by Delgado participates
MADRID, 15 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Julio Pacheco, the first complainant of Franco’s torture to testify before the Spanish Justice, has ratified the content of the complaint he presented at the beginning of the year – in which he denounces that he suffered torture by members of the Political-Social Brigade after being arrested in 1975– and has assured that he is in a step to “begin to break the eastern wall of silence and impunity that we have with the Franco regime.”
Upon leaving the court, in statements to the press, Pacheco said he felt “very happy” for being the first time that one of the complainants of Franco’s torture appeared in court to give his testimony after having already filed around 100 complaints.
“It is the first time that a judge pays attention to you and listens to you,” he said, while emphasizing that this “means that there may be more and that this may begin to open up in some way and that we can finally obtain justice here in the Spanish State”.
Pacheco arrived at the Plaza de Castilla Courts after 9:30 a.m., where he was received by fifty people with banners of “The victims of Franco’s regime demand Justice”, “Let’s break the wall of impunity” and “The first of a hundred “, in reference to the admitted complaint.
The head of the Court of Instruction number 50 of Madrid, Ana María Iguácel, has taken a statement from both Pacheco and his partner Rosa María García Alcón – as a witness – after their appearance was suspended in July due to a change of instructor in the case.
He has been testifying for an hour; her, about 30 minutes. From the State Coordinator of Support to the Argentine Complaint (CEAQUA) they emphasize that this is “the first time that in the framework of a criminal process a statement is taken from a complainant who has reported a crime of torture during the Franco regime in a context of crimes against humanity.”
It is also the first time that a prosecutor from the Human Rights and Democratic Memory Unit that Dolores Delgado launched this year attends a procedure. The representative of this department of the Public Ministry has accompanied the designated provincial prosecutor of Madrid.
Jacinto Lara, the complainant’s lawyer, assured the press that he valued “positively” that the prosecutor from Memoria Democrástica was present at the statement.
Pacheco has specified that in his statement he has ratified the allegations contained in his complaint: that he was arrested in his apartment in Lavapiés when he was 19 years old, he was a member of the PCE and was a member of the Revolutionary Anti-Fascist and Patriotic Front (FRAP).
As he explained in his complaint, his arrest was due to an attack that had occurred days before against a lieutenant. He claimed that he was taken to police stations where he remained for seven days during which – according to the complaint – he suffered torture during the interrogation.
“They wanted me to incriminate myself and say that I had been in the command, they accused me of terrorism and then in November they transferred me to the Public Order Court,” he indicated in his complaint, one of the four that were announced in February 2023 against a thirty agents of the State security forces and bodies for crimes ranging from crimes against humanity to murder and torture of those retaliated by the Franco dictatorship.
Pacheco has assured that he felt “at ease” and “calm” in the court because the judge has been “very receptive.” “And that, whether you like it or not, remembering those events, because it also gives you a lot of peace of mind and a lot of security,” he said, while emphasizing that he believes that the procedure “will continue” because he has seen “both the prosecutor and to the judge with great desire, great interest in moving forward.”
As she has stressed, the next step in the case is for the instructor to call the police officers she has named in her complaint to testify: Álvaro Valdemoro, José Luis Montero Muñoz, José María González Reglero and José Manuel Villarejo.
Already last May, when the complaint was admitted for processing, the judge agreed to instruct the National Historical Archive to send the court the documentary background of the reported case and to the General Directorate of the Police to send the complete police file of the complainant and the affiliation data of the four police officers identified.
