The Supreme Court of Chile yesterday stripped Augusto Pinochet, the
country's former military dictator, of his immunity from prosecution -
opening the way for him to be charged with human rights abuses and the
alleged death and disappearance of more than 3,000 people. The court in
Santiago, the capital, voted 9-8 to lift the immunity protecting the
former president, overruling its own previous decisions that the
88-year-old was too physically and mentally ill to face prosecution.
Two years ago, court-appointed doctors determined that General Pinochet
had a mild case of dementia, used a pacemaker and suffered from
diabetes and arthritis. He has had at least three mild strokes since
1998. Human rights activists yesterday applauded the ruling. [more]
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