Pinochet advised to disobey judge

General Pinochet's lawyer has recommended that the former dictator openly disobey the judge seeking to try him on human rights charges.

Lawyer Pablo Rodriguez says Judge Juan Guzman's orders for Pinochet to undergo two days of neurological and mental tests immediately followed by a long day of interrogation amounts "to open harassment."

Judge Guzman wants to try Pinochet for the atrocities committed by the Caravan of Death, a military group that travelled the countryside and executed 55 political prisoners shortly after the 1973 Chilean coup led by Pinochet.

Judge Guzman has issued orders for the three days of tests and questioning to start on Sunday, a move expected to lead to the reinstatement of an indictment of Pinochet on charges stemming from human rights abuses during his 1973-90 dictatorship.

The judge had agreed to a request by Pinochet's defence for the tests to be conducted at a military hospital, but ordered some of the physical exams and blood and urine samples taken at a civilian hospital. Lawyers opposed to Pinochet had expressed distrust of the military hospital.

Judge Guzman's decision "is highly insulting to General Pinochet and to the armed forces and their hospital, because it casts a doubt on the hospital and suggests that the tests could be adulterated," Mr Rodriguez said in Santiago.

He added that is unacceptable "to have an ill, 85-year-old man" undergo a tiring battery of tests for two days and immediately afterward to answer questions for hours.

"As a lawyer, I will recommend my client not to take the tests and refuse the interrogation," he added