Baltasar Garzon, Spain's most well-known judge, has appeared before the country's supreme court accused of overstepping his authority in a case involving Spanish civil war atrocities.
The court agreed in May to investigate a complaint from an ultraconservative group that accuses Garzon of knowingly acting without jurisdiction in ordering an inquiry into abuses of civilians by forces loyal to General Francisco Franco, Spain's former leader.
Garzon, who became famous for indicting Augusto Pinochet and Osama bin Laden, made no comment to journalists as he arrived at court on Wednesday in a rare case of a Spanish judge being formally probed in legal proceedings.
A handful of supporters cheered Garzon as he went in a side entrance for a closed-door session.
Among those standing outside the court was Gervasio Puerta, 88, who fought against Franco in the war and ended up spending eight years in jail. He said: "It is an injustice to try a person who wants to defend those of us who suffered under Franco."
Garzon's 2008 investigation was the first in official inquiry in Spain and was widely seen as seeking an indictment of the Franco government itself.