Spain to strip Franco-era police officers of honours
Interior minister enforces the Democratic Memory Law, which tackles the legacy of Franco's dictatorship from 1939-1975 and the three-year civil war that preceded it.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez walks past a wall with the names of people killed by late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco's forces during the Civil War, as he visits the exhumation work of a mass grave at El Carmen cemetery in Valladolid, Spain last October.
Spain's leftist government has announced that it will strip decorations awarded to police officers involved in state repression during the right-wing dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska ordered police forces to make the move to comply with a new law focused on the historical impact of the leader, the interior ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The Democratic Memory Law aims to tackle the legacy of Franco's 1939-1975 dictatorship and the three-year civil war that preceded it, including measures honouring those who suffered persecution or violence under his rule.
It calls for the withdrawal of honours from police officers involved in "events incompatible with democratic values and the principles of respect for human rights," the interior ministry statement said.
Among those reportedly affected is Juan Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco, a notorious former Madrid police inspector known as "Billy the Kid" who died in 2020 of Covid-19.
He is accused of torturing prisoners during Franco's rule.
READ MORE: The Silence of Others: “The past is never the past”
Officers targeted by the measure will be given the opportunity to present "defences" before a final decision is made, the statement said.
These decorations allowed police officers who were awarded them to collect higher pensions.
Iron fist
Franco ruled Spain with an iron fist from the end of the country's 1936-39 civil war until his death in 1975, marking one of Europe's longest dictatorships.
Honouring those who died or suffered violence or repression during the war and decades of dictatorship that followed has been a top priority for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez since he came to power in 2018.
In 2019, he had Franco's remains removed from a vast grandiose mausoleum near Madrid and transferred to a discreet family plot.
READ MORE: Spain to exhume ex-dictator Franco's remains to discreet grave
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