Spain's high-profile judge, Mr Baltasar Garzon, has been dealt a severe blow in his campaign to bring to justice the top echelons of the former Socialist government which he has accused of being behind GAL, the dirty war against the Basque terrorist movement ETA which was responsible for 23 deaths in the 1980s.
The 13 judges of the Supreme Court in Madrid took only two hours to throw out Mr Garzon's request to investigate the role of the former prime minister, Mr Felipe Gonzalez, in GAL (Antiterrorist Liberation Groups). It upheld an earlier decision which three years ago had found there was no evidence linking Mr Gonzalez with GAL.
Mr Garzon claims that secret service papers, declassified in April 1977, contained new evidence which proved the prime minister had been kept informed of GAL activities and as such should be charged for his role. The evidence centres on three crucial letters "Pte", which appear frequently in the papers. If they mean "pending", as some claim, then Mr Gonzalez is in the clear, but if, as others allege, they stand for "President" it could signify that he was informed every step of the way.
Sources within the Spanish judiciary say that some of the Supreme Court judges were highly critical of Mr Garzon - the judge who is also behind the extradition request to bring the former Chilean dictator, Gen Augusto Pinochet, to justice in Spain - for his love of the limelight and his alleged campaign of personal vengeance against Mr Gonzalez.
In a controversial move, Mr Garzon briefly stepped down from his judicial position to stand alongside the Socialists during the Gonzalez regime and was named to a senior interior ministry post where he had access to sensitive information. After a bitter power struggle he resigned and returned to take up his position in the High Court where he began his investigations into the alleged crimes committed by the Socialists.
Born the son of a poor Andalusian labourer, Mr Garzon was destined for the priesthood until he was expelled from his studies for serenading a schoolgirl. She would become his wife. He worked his way through law school, became a judge at 23 and won a seat on the High Court at 32. on quickly made a name for himself spearheading crackdowns on drug trafficking and Basque separatist violence.