Pinochet stripped of court immunity

Chile’s Supreme Court today stripped General Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution, paving the way for a possible trial of the former Chilean dictator on charges of human rights abuses.

The court voted 9-8 to lift the immunity granted to the 88-year-old as a former president, a court spokesman said.

The decision removes the last legal obstacle for prosecutors seeking to bring Pinochet to justice and marked a reversal of previous court rulings in cases against him.

The Supreme Court had repeatedly ruled in the past that Pinochet was physically and mentally unfit to stand trial.

A 2002 report by court-appointed doctors stated that Pinochet has a mild case of dementia. He uses a pacemaker, has diabetes and arthritis, and has had at least three mild strokes since 1998.

The ruling came in a lawsuit brought on behalf of victims of “Operation Condor,” a repression plan implemented by the military dictatorship that ruled the South American nation in the 1970s and 1980s. Pinochet took power in a coup in 1973 and ruled until 1990.

Pinochet’s lawyers did not immediately comment.

A report by the civilian government that succeeded Pinochet said 3,197 people died or disappeared during Pinochet’s rule.