Chile To Announce Pinochet Ruling Next WeekChilean Supreme Court President Hernan Alvarez said Wednesday that the Plenum will publish next Tuesday whether to strip Gen. Augusto Pinochet of his immunity to allow him to stand trial on human rights charges."The decision will not be given today and I think neither tomorrow, but I expect to have it ready on Tuesday. So, I repeat that the cause is being discussed and there is nothing concrete yet on the matter, said the Chilean justice. The Chilean Supreme Court ended its plenary session Tuesday afternoon with no pronouncement on Augusto Pinochet's immunity privation case. In May, a Santiago court voted 13-9 to strip Pinochet, 84, of his immunity from prosecution. Pinochet appealed against that ruling in the Supreme Court. Two weeks ago, judges heard testimony from lawyers representing the families of victims of Pinochet's 17-year rule and from lawyers defending him. Pinochet ousted socialist President Salvador Allende in a bloody September 1973 coup. More than 3,000 people died or disappeared while Pinochet was president and tens of thousands of other Chileans fled the country. One of the most infamous incidents of the era involved the so- called "Death Caravan," a military helicopter unit that blitzed through northern Chile in October 1973 in search of union leaders and left-wing supporters of Allende. At least 72 people were killed. |
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