Pinochet 'unfit to stand trial' court rules

The Supreme Court in Chile last night ruled that former dictator Augusto Pinochet was mentally and physically unfit to stand trial accused of being responsible for the kidnapping and murder of dozens of political prisoners.

In a four-to-one ruling, the court rejected the arguments of prosecutors, reaffirming a lower court’s stay of proceedings for Pinochet, who suffers from vascular dementia, a progressive disease caused by broken blood vessels.

The justices said the disease, which was diagnosed in early 2001, is irreversible.

The high court’s ruling suspends the judicial proceedings by Judge Juan Guzman, who launched the investigation in March 2000, when Pinochet returned from England.

Pinochet had spent 503 days under house arrest in England after a Spanish judge requested his extradition for human rights abuses committed during his regime from 1973 to 1990.

Judge Guzman will continue to try other officials, such as General Sergio Arellano, accused of being involved in the murders.

Arellano was the alleged head of the ‘‘caravan of death’’ sent by Pinochet to cities throughout the north and south of Chile to execute those detained during his dictatorship.

Viviana Diez, the president of the group for families of those kidnapped, told AP she was disappointed with the decision.

Pinochet, 86, spent the middle of last week in a military hospital for a cold and dental problems.

Those close to him say his health is very delicate, though his opponents say these accounts are exaggerated, denying even that he has diabetes.

Since the legal procedures have begun, Pinochet has been living in recluse in some of his luxurious homes in Santiago as well as in coastal towns.