Spain strips Franco-era torturer 'Billy the Kid' of honors

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Spain on Friday moved to strip the notorious Franco-era torturer “Billy the Kid” and other police officers of medals and decorations.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry said it would begin withdrawing police awards and related rewards given to agents who “had been part of the repressive apparatus of the Franco dictatorship or who had carried out acts incompatible with democratic values and the guiding principles of protection of human rights.”

The unprecedented step comes just two months after Spain passed the Democratic Memory Law that aims to unveil what happened during the Spanish Civil War and the Francisco Franco dictatorship that lasted from 1939 to 1975.

In 2018, the progressive governing coalition announced it would strip “Billy the Kid,” whose real name was Antonio Gonzalez Pacheco, of the medals awarded for his service, as well as the extra pension he was collecting because of those awards.

However, politicians ran into a legal dead end, and the notorious police officer died of COVID-19 in 2020 with full honors.

In 2013, a court in Argentina also accused him of 13 counts of torture.

In the end, he was not extradited to Buenos Aires because the Spanish High Court ruled the crimes passed the statute of limitations.

More officers from the National Police, Civil Guard, and other services could also see be stripped of their medals and prizes.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska also announced that he would create a new commission to analyze how the Democratic Memory Law could impact other areas of Spain’s law enforcement system.

That commission will work on removing Franco-era symbols from buildings and opening up the public archives, he said.