Thursday, 20/03/14
MADRID, 20 (Servimedia)
The Prosecutor's Office today asked the judge of the National Court Ismael Moreno to conclude “urgently”” the summary against the former Chinese presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao for the genocide in Tibet and to elevate the case to the Criminal Chamber so that this legal body can definitively close the case or take the limitation of universal jurisdiction to the Constitutional Court..
He Public Ministry has made this request upon understanding that in an ordinary procedure such as the one opened for the genocide in Tibet "the decision to end the procedure before the oral trial (…) corresponds to the Criminal Chamber of the National Court”.
The writing, signed by the prosecutor of the National Court Pedro Martínez Torrijos, points out in this sense that it should be the Criminal Chamber that decides whether to file the case against Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao upon understanding that the requirements established by the repeal of universal jurisdiction are met or whether, on the contrary, “adopt the decision it deems appropriate in relation to the constitutionality of the aforementioned regulations”.
The reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) driven by the PP which came into force last Saturday and which in practice repeals universal jurisdiction in Spain states in its transitional provision that "the cases that at the time of entry into force of this Law are being processed for the crimes referred to in it will be dismissed until compliance with the requirements established therein is proven.".
Judge Moreno has issued search and arrest warrants against Jiang Zemin and four other former leaders of the country and has prosecuted Hu Jintao. The six defendants are charged with crimes of genocide, torture and crimes against humanity as presumed responsible for the repression exercised by the communist Government in Tibet in the years 80 and 90.
VIOLATION OF RIGHTS
The Prosecutor's Office of the National Court already warned this Wednesday that the limitation of universal justice promoted by the PP may represent a violation of fundamental rights. The Public Ministry made this assessment when appealing Judge Santiago Pedraz's decision to keep the case open for the murder of José Couso Without going to the Constitutional.
The document presented yesterday by the Prosecutor's Office indicated that the reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary "may involve a violation of the rights to effective judicial protection and access to jurisdiction enshrined in the Constitution “Spanish”.
The Prosecutor's Office therefore understands that Pedraz could not decide on his own to keep the case open for the murder of television cameraman José Couso., which took place in Bagdad (Iraq) he 8 April 2003. The judge decided on Monday to maintain the investigation to understand that the limitation of the universal jurisdiction promoted by the PP contravenes the Geneva Convention.
(Servimedia)
