If there has been a Coronavirus death here in Spain that will be rejoiced more than lamented, it was ex-Inspector Antonio González Pacheco, alias Billy El Niño.

You see, this retired police inspector was one of Franco’s most notorious torturers and there are many, many of his victims who will be celebrating his passing, but as the second-best option – they would have preferred to have seen him stand trial and rot in prison.

But it was never to be because the Transición (the period between the end of the dictatorship and the first socialist government) entailed an amnesty that meant people like El Niño never faced trial. As if this was not enough, he received a very good police pension up until the day he died, thanks to his ‘good conduct and medals’ gained during Franco’s years.

So now he’s dead, victim of the Coronavirus, at the age of 73, along with the embarrassment caused to the present government concerning his bonuses for his medals and good-conduct merits. The previous right-wing government felt no such embarrassment, of course, because for some, privately, he was a hero.

In fact, Rajoy’s government refused an extradition request from Argentina, where many Spaniards, who had fled to escape the oppression under Franco, had sued him under the Argentinean Judicial System, which has been busy processing their own criminals from the military dictatorship years. Spanish judges decided that the charges against him had expired, even though Crimes against Humanity no such limitations… Rajoy’s government ignored this and closed the cover on the extradition request.

So, the man who tortured hundreds of people – something he apparently both enjoyed and excelled at – has been laid low by a higher court than the Spanish Judiciary can offer, from which there can be no appeal.

(News: Spain)