What we know now but did know then was that the US Government had seemingly pressured the Spanish Government to have the case stopped. We only know this thanks to the Wiki Leaks leaked cables between the US Madrid Embassy and the State Department in Washington. However we may shortly find out a whole lot more as the family of José Couso has now presented a legal request before the Madrid prosecutor demanding that an investigation is carried out in to whether pressure was applied to influence the judicial process by the US.
The family’s lawyer, Enrique Santiago, confirmed the papers had been lodged and the brother of José, Javier Couso, told Cadena Ser radio that they wanted the matter investigated fully.
It was the Spanish daily newspaper El País that published documents from Wiki Leaks allegedly belonging to the State Department in the USA which showed contact between various prosecutors and members of the Spanish Government and the US Embassy. They related to various cases involving the USA amongst them that of Couso.
On Monday December 13 Juan Fernando López-Aguilar, who was the minister for justice between 2004 and 2007 said the papers did not accurately reflect the contacts and defended the integrity of the Spanish government and the judicial system. Javier Couso dismissed his arguments as “lies”.
The Madrid prosecutor now has two options: to hand the case over to a competent judge for investigation or to file it on the basis there had been no illegal activity. Lawyer Enrique Santiago said he hoped to have an indication as to what would happen shortly but it all depended on the “enthusiasm” for investigating a case in which a number of prosecutors were named including the State Prosecutor, Cándido Conde-Pumpido. For his part the State Prosecutor insists only the official position of his office was communicated to Washington and no outside influence was allowed.
The problem for the Spanish Government is that the case of José Couso has twice been filed by the High Court although it was re-opened in July by the Supreme Court based on the seriousness of the alleged crimes and because the US authorities had not co-operated with the Spanish justice system when it asked to question the three military personnel involved.
Judge Santiago Pedraz has intended to travel to Baghdad to visit the site of where José Couso was killed on April 3 2003 when the US troops entered the city at the end of the war against Sadam Hussein. However Interpol has not issued the find and capture warrant issued by the judge against the three US soldiers – sergeant Thomas Gibson, Captain Philip Wolford and Lieutenant Colonel Philip de Camp - saying it would have to change its statutes to proceed against the military.
José Couso was fatally wounded when he was hit by a shell from a US Mark 1 Abram’s tank that fired at the Hotel Palestine in Bagdad which at the time was a civil zone and used by reporters. In 2006 the High Court filed the case having taken the view that Couso’s death was an “act of war” and was not a premeditated attack on the journalists.
The Supreme Court later rejected this argument and ordered at the insistence of the family the investigation be re-opened. In 2009 the High Court again filed the case and annulled the accusation of “homicide and a crime against the international community” against the three US soldiers.
The view of the court then was there was “insufficient evidence” that the tank’s crew that had fired at Couso deliberately. A Ukrainian cameraman working for Reuters was also killed in the same tragedy. The shell had hit its office on the 15 th floor, and Couso was on the floor below.
However thanks to Wiki Leaks the demand for justice for José Couso has again taken centre stage. Only this time the Spanish Government, the State Prosecutor, the US State Department and the three soldiers are all in the firing line.
(The above article appeared in The Morning Star on Wednesday December 22 2010)
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