Servini demands that Spain inform him about whether it persecuted the far-right murderers during the Transition

The Argentine judge María Romilda Servini demands that Spain inform her “very urgently” about the measures that were adopted during the Transition to combat the far-right groups that carried out numerous murders and the orders given to the public order forces to repress to the protesters who supported the amnesty and the establishment of democracy.

The judge's initiative takes place after an investigation by EL PAÍS revealed the whereabouts in Buenos Aires of Juan Ignacio Fernández Guaza, the murderer of the student Arturo Ruiz, who was shot dead by the far-right extremist when he attended one of those rallies in 1977.

On November 24, Servini ordered his search after the publication of photographs of Fernández Guaza in his shelter, in Ingeniero Maschwitz, a municipality 45 kilometers from Buenos Aires with 15,000 inhabitants. And he argued that he may have committed the crimes of identity theft and falsification of public documents, as the ultra confessed during an interview with this newspaper. The legal case against Fernández Guaza, 76, was dismissed in Spain in 2000 as he had been missing for several decades. The gunman who murdered Arturo Ruiz never sat in the dock since he fled Spain after committing his crime.

Questions without answer

The judge's initiative is not new. Within the framework of the complaint filed in Argentina against former Minister Rodolfo Martín Villa for crimes during the Franco regime, a case closed, Servini sent a rogatory commission (request for judicial assistance) in 2022 with similar requests to the Spanish authorities. It has not been answered. Now, within the framework of the new investigation into the murder of Arturo Ruiz, the judge demands an answer to all of her questions in a letter dated the 26th.

The person in charge of the Buenos Aires court focuses her request on the years 1976-1978, the most tragic, and asks whether or not the use of weapons was restricted in the break-up of the demonstrations, the number of judicial proceedings held against far-right extremists for death or serious injuries. , the fatalities caused by these actions, the guidelines of the civil governors or the full text of the police manual in which it was pointed out that “repression does not reach its end if it was soft, one must act harshly and energetically using the charge with defense up to fire with all kinds of weapons.”

Famous for her participation in the most relevant cases in Argentina, such as the defense of former President Isabel Perón, the octogenarian Judge Servini also urges the National Court to inform her of the current status of the Arturo Ruiz case and if there is any possibility of appeal to the latest decision of this judicial body.

Last September, the First Section of the National Court rejected reopening the investigation by rejecting a plea from Ruiz's relatives. The text appealed to the Democratic Memory Law, which requires investigation of the crimes of Franco's regime. The judges considered that, although the case was pursued for terrorism and illicit possession of weapons, the facts had expired and could not be framed within the aforementioned norm. In his opinion there was no connection between the murderer and the dictatorship.

The resolution had a dissenting vote from Judge José Ricardo de Prada, who defended that Fernández Guaza was part of a criminal group connected to the security forces and bodies of the Franco regime, which had the objective of hindering the Transition and resorted to violence to spread terror. This resolution was issued weeks before this newspaper located the fugitive in Buenos Aires and he confessed that he worked for the Civil Guard and participated in the dirty war against ETA.

Arrest and witnesses

The defense of the victim's family, represented by Argentine lawyer Duilio Jorge Ramírez, has requested the arrest of Fernández Guaza and the taking of statements as witnesses of the two EL PAÍS journalists who interviewed the murderer. In his letter, Servini asks the lawyer to send him the questions that he wishes to ask the reporters.

Lawyer Ramírez interprets that the judge is trying to obtain a response from the Spanish authorities “to define whether or not she classifies the crimes of the Transition as cases of Against Humanity and whether the State has deployed concrete actions for the identification, trial and apprehension of the perpetrators.” ultra-rightists who acted freely in those years.” “These are moments of pivotal judicial and political definitions or impunity will continue to reign,” the family lawyer says in a telephone conversation.

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