Spanish court refuses to consider dissident lawsuit against Fidel Castro

A Spanish court Friday rejected a Cuban dissident group's attempt to have Cuban President Fidel Castro tried in Spain on charges of genocide and other offenses.

The suit was filed at the National Court on Oct. 14 by a dissident group called the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba. Besides genocide, it accused Castro of crimes against humanity, torture and terrorism. It resorted to a Spanish doctrine that allows criminal charges in human rights cases even if the offense is alleged to have been committed abroad.

But the National Court ruled Friday that under this doctrine Castro is immune because he is a sitting head of state. It rejected a similar suit against Castro in 1998 on the same grounds.

The recent motion was presented as Spain hosted a summit of Latin American countries, a meeting to which Castro was invited but did not attend, AP reported. V.A.