Operation Garzón
Operation Garzón is a name given to the arrest of 45 Catalan nationalists in 1992, prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The arrested were claimed to be members of the armed Catalan nationalist organisation Terra Lliure. It was mainly directed by judge Baltasar Garzón.
In 1995, 25 of the detainees were tried and, of these, 18 were convicted of belonging to Terra Lliure. 17 of the detainees alleged that they had been tortured. This ended up in the European Court of Human Rights in 2004 which condemned the Spanish State for refusing to investigate the torture allegations.[1]
Terra Lliure had announced its dissolution in 1991 but rebels opposed to this were continuing attacks. The aim of the operation, 2 years in the making, was to stop any attacks during the Olympics.
Over 30 people were arrested between 29 June and 14 July 1992 including the mayor of Ribera d'Urgellet.[2]
References
- ^ "Garzón, un jutge contra les cordes". elpunt.cat (in Catalan). February 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
- ^ Bracero, Francisco (26 September 1992). "Un alcalde y dos independentistas catalanes, detenidos por orden de Garzón". El País. Barcelona. Retrieved 5 November 2017.