MADRID, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Bribery charges against a Spanish judge known as a human rights crusader were dropped because the statute of limitations had run out, officials in Madrid said.
Spain's Supreme Court in Madrid said Baltasar Garzon would not be tried on accusations he received financial sponsorship from Banco Santander in return for dropping a tax fraud investigation, ThinkSpain reported Tuesday.
Garzon, who was suspended from the bench last week after he was convicted of authorizing wire tapping in a public corruption investigation, could have been sentenced to up to five years in prison if convicted in the Banco Santander case.
Garzon is still awaiting a verdict on charges filed against him by two far-right groups for attempting to investigate killings carried out in Spain by the late dictator Gen. Francisco Franco's troops. The groups say the judge violated the 1977 amnesty law.
