An Argentine judge has started an investigation into the death of Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, who is believed to have been executed in 1936 by forces loyal to General Francisco Franco. With efforts by the Spanish justice system stalled, a Spanish human rights group called the Association for the Recuperation of Historic Memory asked Argentine federal judge Maria Servini to take up the case. “The case has been incorporated into an ongoing investigation by Judge Maria Servini into crimes against humanity,” it said. The Spanish group first requested that Servini, who could not be reached for comment, take up the Garcia Lorca case in April. Historians estimate as many as 500,000 combatants and civilians were killed on the Republican and Nationalist sides in the war.

Source: The Guardian August 17, 2016 21:45 UTC