Pinochet indicted over kidnapping and murder of dissidents

FORMER Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet was indicted yesterday for the kidnapping of nine dissidents and the killing of one during his 17-year regime.

Judge Juan Guzman said he had also put the 89-year old former ruler under house arrest.

Judge Guzman said he made the decision to try Pinochet - who ruled between 1973 to 1990 - after carefully reviewing an interview Pinochet granted to a Spanish-language television station in Miami. He said he was convinced Pinochet’s health did not make him unfit to stand trial, as ruled before by Chilean courts.

Pinochet’s trial is part of Judge Guzman’s investigation into the so-called Operation Condor, a scheme by the dictatorships that ruled several South American nations in the 1970s and 1980s to suppress dissidents.

“This is a historic decision that must be celebrated by all democrats,” said Viviana Diaz, a member of a dissidents’ organisation, some of whose members disappeared during Pinochet’s regime.

“This is great news for all those Chileans who do not accept impunity in the violations of human rights.”

Pinochet’s lawyers are expected to appeal against Judge Guzman’s decision before the Supreme Court.

The ruling marks the second time Pinochet faces trial for the abuses during his regime. In 2001, he was indicted for the killings carried out by the Caravan of Death, a death squad that executed 75 political prisoners in the weeks after the 1973 coup that brought Pinochet to power.

But the Supreme Court later ruled the ageing dictator was physically and mentally unfit to stand trial. His lawyers argue that his condition continues to deteriorate.

Pinochet has been diagnosed with a mild case of dementia, he suffers from diabetes and uses a pacemaker. But Judge Guzman said the reports he received from three doctors who examined Pinochet convinced him the general could stand trial. Judge Guzman said Pinochet’s answers during the interview with the Miami station indicated he was mentally alert.

In October 1999, Pinochet was detained in London after an extradition request from Spain. After more than a year in custody, he was allowed to return to Chile after he was deemed not well enough to stand trial.