Pinochet defence rejected

CHILE'S Supreme Court ruled yesterday that murder and kidnapping charges against General Augusto Pinochet can move forward, a decision that brings the former dictator one step closer to trial in a major human rights case.

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision to throw out a defence motion that argued Mr Pinochet, 89, is not mentally alert enough to defend himself. However, the defence will still have other opportunities to block the trial.

The court's five-judge criminal panel voted three-to-two in the ruling against Mr Pinochet, who has never been put on trial for human rights violations under his 1973-1990 rule, despite several high-profile cases against him.

The court rejected the defence's request for an injunction and ruled that the criminal charges filed against Mr Pinochet had not violated his right to due process, Supreme Court secretary Carlos Meneses told reporters on the steps of Santiago's main courthouse.

The court decision could lead to an order of house arrest against Pinochet.

Judge Juan Guzman formally charged Mr Pinochet in December with nine kidnappings and one murder in the case of 10 Chilean leftists who disappeared or were killed outside of Chile in the 1970s.

Yesterday's high court ruling marks a shift. In 2002, the same criminal panel of the Supreme Court threw out charges in a previous human rights case against Mr Pinochet, ruling he was not in condition to stand trial because of his mild dementia.

In December he was hospitalised for four days after suffering a stroke.

The new ruling is not a definitive sign that the case will continue to move forward, because under Chile's legal system the defence will have room for more manoeuvres.

The defence has not yet appealed the underlying charges in the case, which is known as Operation Condor, a joint effort by South America's military dictators in the 1970s to help each other wipe out political opponents.