Pinochet Immunity Likely To Be Stripped

Tue., Aug. 8, 2000

When it meets today, Chile’s Supreme Court is expected confirm it has given its legal approval for Gen. Augusto Pinochet to be tried on human rights abuse charges.

But even with the high court agreeing to the elimination of his immunity from prosecution, the former dictator’s foes acknowledge that a quick trial is unlikely.

The former dictator’s age of 84, his medical problems and his other legal privileges could drag out attempts to try him on charges stemming from his 1973-1990 rule.

“I do not see Pinochet going to jail,” Hugo Gutierrez, attorney for several plaintiffs in the case, said Monday.

Putting Pinochet on trial “could take up to eight years,” Eduardo Contreras, a communist lawyer who filed the first complaint against Pinochet in 1998, said over the weekend.

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Pinochet Immunity Likely To Be Stripped

Jesse Tinsley

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