The Laws of Rule

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Leaked Cables Reveal U.S. Pressure on Spanish Judiciary

Dec 5, 2010

El Pais is the latest to ferret out a bit of diplomatic influence peddling from the diplomatic cables made public by Wikileaks. The Spanish daily has published the story of how the U.S. diplomat sought to influence the Spanish judiciary in order to stop proceedings in a war crimes case against three U.S. servicemen accused of killing a Spanish journalist during invasion of Iraq. The story is revealing of how the U.S. exerts influence in such cases. Far more damning is the apparent willingness of certain Spanish high court judges to play along, as evidenced by the eagerness of one to call the U.S. Ambassador with the good news that the case had been canned (it was, but now it’s back on again).