End Franco probe, say prosecutors
Spanish prosecutors have asked the high court to stop an investigation into atrocities during Gen Franco's rule, saying they are covered by an amnesty.
Judge Baltasar Garzon last week began investigating what happened to thousands of people who vanished during and after the civil war.
But chief prosecutor Javier Zaragoza said a 1977 amnesty covered the crimes.
A ruling on the appeal could take two months, but the inquiry can continue in the meantime.
The 1977 amnesty law, passed two years after Gen Francisco Franco's death, was to help Spaniards put the country's divisions behind them.
The civil war was triggered by the military uprising of Gen Franco, whose supporters are said to have systematically eliminated left-wing opponents, even after the war was won in 1939.
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Judge Baltasar Garzon last week began investigating what happened to thousands of people who vanished during and after the civil war.
But chief prosecutor Javier Zaragoza said a 1977 amnesty covered the crimes.
A ruling on the appeal could take two months, but the inquiry can continue in the meantime.
The 1977 amnesty law, passed two years after Gen Francisco Franco's death, was to help Spaniards put the country's divisions behind them.
The civil war was triggered by the military uprising of Gen Franco, whose supporters are said to have systematically eliminated left-wing opponents, even after the war was won in 1939.