Baltazar Garzón, judge accused

With the voice broken by an aphonia, but vehement and challenging in some answers, the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon denied Tuesday "malpractice" during its investigation of a case of corruption, the first of the two judgments are against him and who put in check your career.

The man who put on the ropes to the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, sat now on trial defendants to be tried for seven judges of the Supreme Court, reached walking between applause and shouts of support from half a hundred supporters.

Garzon is accused of the crime of obstruction of Justice - decision knowing a unfair - for his role in the so-called "Gu¨rtel" case, which uncovered a corrupt fabric in the public administration that splashed the regional delegations of the ruling Popular Party in Valencia and Madrid.

The private prosecution, exercised by two involved in the plot and a lawyer are considered u000aaffected by Garzon, requested up to 17 years of ineligibility for exercise as a judge for ordering in 2009 the recording of telephone conversations between several defendants jailed for "Gu¨rtel" anyway, and their lawyers.

Spanish law allows intervene these communications in cases of terrorism, but its reserve requirement in other types of crimes is more diffuse.

Interventions
"It is obvious that the interpretation I take is that interventions with judicial authority may authorize and not only in cases of terrorism", said Garzon in his testimony.

In the interrogation of more than two hours, Garzón said that communications intervened to prevent the "criminal activity" of those involved and was never injured his right of defence, as he claims the indictment.

"The judge accused today took the decisions it took in order to research I was doing," said. u000a

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