Spain doctor in Franco-era abduction case found guilty but immune from sentencing News
REUTERS/Juan Medina
Spain doctor in Franco-era abduction case found guilty but immune from sentencing

A Madrid court on Monday found Dr. Eduardo Vela, a gynecologist during the rule of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, guilty of abducting a child in 1969 but found that the 85-year-old’s crime fell beyond the statute of limitations, sparing him from sentencing.

The Madrid Provincial Court agreed in June to hear the case of Ines Madrigal, who claims that 50 years ago she was one of the abducted babies who was taken from her mother and placed with an infertile couple. Upon hearing about the verdict, Madrigal commented that she was happy that the verdict recognized Vela’s crimes.

In 2017, noting a growing number of allegations of stolen children under the regime, the European Parliament issued a call for transparency to the Spanish government and its affiliates to release information about the missing children.

300,000 children were allegedly stolen during the dictator’s 40-year regime, although few of the perpetrators ever faced justice.

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On February 1, 1790, the Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time. The meeting was held at the Merchants' Exchange Building in New York City, then the national capital. Chief Justice John Jay presided over the first Court with five Associate Justices: James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, William Cushing, and John Rutledge. However, due to the limitations of 18th-century transportation technology, the meeting was postponed by Jay until the following day. The first meeting was held primarily to organize the Supreme Court. The Justices did not hear their first actual case, Chrisholm v. Georgia, until 1792.

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