Chilean court strips Pinochet of immunity from prosecution

SANTIAGO, Chile -- A court ruled Friday that former dictator Augusto Pinochet can be sued for a bloody wave of repression in the 1970s and '80s, after a TV interview in which he appeared lucid raised questions about Supreme Court rulings that he is unfit for trial.

The 14-9 vote by the Santiago Court of Appeals startled lawyers on both sides of the case, as well as victims' families. Prosecution attorney Juan Subercasseaux called the ruling "a miracle."

"We receive this with deep surprise but also with deep pride," said chief prosecution attorney Francisco Bravo. "This ruling makes the relatives of the victims and the whole of Chilean society again trust Chile's justice."

The decision, which lifts the immunity Pinochet enjoyed as a former president, could pave the way for him to face human rights charges. His attorney said he would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly said the 88-year-old Pinochet cannot stand trial because of poor mental and physical health.

A 2002 report by court-appointed doctors stated that Pinochet suffers from a mild case of dementia. He also uses a pacemaker, has diabetes and arthritis, and has sustained at least three mild strokes since 1998, when he was arrested in London.

In November 2003, however, Pinochet appeared in an interview with a Miami-based Spanish-language television station, saying he sees himself "as a good angel" and blaming the abuses of his regime on subordinates.

During the interview, Pinochet sat holding a cane, and spoke with slurred words, but he was lucid.

The court has yet to explain its ruling, and a judge's report outlining it was not expected for two or three weeks. Still, prosecution attorneys and victims' relatives believe the interview played a key role in persuading judges that Pinochet is fit to stand trial.

"Pinochet had been granting interviews, going to restaurants, going out shopping and he continues to administer his assets," prosecution lawyer Hugo Gutierrez said. "He's not crazy or sick."

Lawyers said hearings had already ended when transcripts became public of telephone conversations by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger indicating the Nixon administration approved and supported Pinochet's coup.

"There is no relation," Bravo said. "There was no mention of the transcripts in the hearings."

In the transcripts, published by a local newspaper, Kissinger told Nixon in 1973 that the United States did not participate in Pinochet's coup, but approved it and helped create conditions to make it possible.

The transcript had little impact in Chile, because Chileans overwhelmingly take as fact that the United States was instrumental in helping Pinochet carry out the coup against the elected president, leftist Salvador Allende.

Friday's ruling came in a lawsuit brought on behalf of victims of "Operation Condor," a repression plan implemented by the military dictatorships that ruled South America's southern nations in the 1970s and 1980s. Pinochet was president from 1973 to 1990.

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

The Supreme Court will now have to again consider Pinochet's fitness for trial. Pinochet's lawyer, Rodrigo Ambrosio, said he expects the court to repeat earlier decisions that he is mentally and physically unfit.

Health reasons have spared Pinochet from trials both in Chile and abroad.

After his arrest in London, he was held there for 16 months while courts decided whether he could be extradited to Spain to face rights charges there. In March 2000, Britain allowed him to return to Chile for health reasons.

At Friday's hearing, a small group of victims' relatives, many carrying pictures of their loved ones, were clearly surprised by the ruling.

"We are happy now," said Lorena Pizarro, who heads a victims' group. "But we remain alert, because the next step must be for the dictator to go to jail and pay for all the crimes for which he is responsible."