James Warren
INFORMATION revealed at a Parliamentary meeting has revealed that 115 police officers who received medals during the Franco dictatorship still receive bonuses on their pensions, despite their chequered past.
The revelation was leaked when the board was asked by Basque party EH
Bildu politician Jon Iñarritu about the number of retired officers given honours before 1979 and therefore still receiving bonuses.
Laws state that any police officer that receives a congressional medal
from the Government receives up to a 15% top-up on their pension payments.
“It’s unacceptable,” said Inarritu, “their only accomplishment was to violate human rights.”
The total amount of government funds used for the bonuses and identities
of the officers has not been revealed.
However it is known that one of the recipients is Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco.
Pacheco, known as ‘Billy the Kid’ for his habit of spinning a pistol around his finger, is well known for his brutal history of torture and murder under Franco’s regime.
He was charged in 2013 with multiple accounts of torture in Argentina but Spain denied his extradition meaning that his charges fell outside the statue of limitations.
During his service he received four medals from Franco for his ‘work’ and subsequently after his retirement, his pension has been increased by 50% thanks to bonus payments.
These injustices have come to light over recent years after the political left has pushed to rid the country of all traces of Dictator Franco’s legacy.
“I think it’s just a matter of common sense,” said Inarritu. “In any other EU member state, no one who had violated human rights would have the right to hold onto their honours.”
The socialist parties in Spain are continuing to fight to strip Pacheco of his medals and bonuses, but they are currently encountering multiple legal hurdles.
The most visible victory for the socialist left was the exhumation and removal of Franco’s remains out of the basilica of the Valley of the Fallen to a low key cemetery where he was buried next to his wife.
