Madrid - The most gruesome of all the "dirty war" cases from the period of Mr Felipe Gonzalez's Socialist Party governments ended in Madrid yesterday, though a verdict is not expected until mid-May, writes Paddy Woodworth.
A general in Guardia Civil, a former deputy interior minister, another senior Socialist politician and other civil guards all face charges relating to the kidnapping, torture and murder of two young members of ETA, Joxean Lasa and Joxe Zabala in 1983. This was the first operation by the GAL death squads, which claimed 27 lives over the next three years, and has been linked in previous trials to the Socialist administration.
All defendants plead not guilty, though one of them had previously made, and apparently substantiated, a detailed confession. The State Prosecutor accused the GAL of using methods "equal to or worse than ETA's", because the first duty of the security forces is to uphold the law.