In the Dock

The plotters face justice

Gold carpeting was hastily installed in the courtroom, and high-backed red velvet chairs were provided for the defendants, lawyers and judges. It was a suit able setting for a momentous trial. In the dock were 32 top-ranking officers and one civilian accused of trying to overthrow the Spanish government by forcibly taking over the Cortes (parliament). In a sense, the entire military is on trial -- and so is Spain's fledgling democracy.

The best known of the golpistas (coup makers) is Guardia Civil Lieut. Colonel Antonio Tejero Molina, 50, who, with his drooping mustache and patent-leather hat, became an instant celebrity last year as he waved his pistol while holding hos tage nearly all of the Cortes' 350 mem bers. Also on trial are Major General Al fonso Armada Comyn, 61, King Juan Carlos' longtime military tutor; Lieut. General Jaime Milans del Bosch, 66, who declared martial law in Valencia on the night of the coup; and Major General Luis Torres Rojas, 62, who is accused of trying to enlist a Madrid-based division to sup port the attempt. If found guilty, they face sentences of up to 30 years.

The defendants immediately revealed their strategy: to imply that King Juan Carlos, who played a leading role in pre venting the coup, tacitly encouraged the venture. "Like everyone else, I thought that all or part [of the plot] was known to the King," Milans del Bosch said. According to Tejero, Juan Carlos' wife, Queen Sofia, had told Armada during a skiing vacation in the Pyrenees: "Alfonso, you are the only one who can save us."

Armada described these stories as fabri cations. Appearing be fore cadets at the Zaragoza Military Academy last week, Juan Carlos rejected the charge that he was involved. Said he: "We were not wrong to choose liber ty and justice to build a pluralistic society in a united Spain."

As the trial unfolded, many Spaniards continued to "wonder just how strong their democracy was. One troubling bit of evi dence is Tejero's popularity with the extreme right wing. His supporters circulate Tejero key rings, Tejero posters and even bogus Tejero bank notes. Ironically, the future of Spanish democracy may again be in the hands of officers: the 16 military judges presiding over the court-martial. A lenient sentence would outrage many Spaniards. But a harsh one could provoke a dangerous right-wing backlash -- and possibly even another coup attempt.sb

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