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Chilean Judge Abandons Pinochet Extradition Case
Chile's Supreme Court judge Luis Correa Bulo has abandoned the case concerning former Chilean military leader Augusto Pinochet's possible extradition to Argentina amid accusations of drug trafficking.
Supreme Court President Hernan Alvarez announced Monday that judge Jorge Rodriguez will take over Luis Correa Bulo's work on the Pinochet case.
Luis Correa Bulo was advised last Friday by the Supreme Court to suspend his activities because some members of parliament had accused him of drug trafficking and the court's Ethics Commission ordered an investigation.
Luis Correa Bulo's son, Luis Correa Bluas, said that his father is innocent of such charges, and his resignation from the case was forced by Chilean opposition members attempting to obstruct the extradition of Pinochet and damage the image of judicial authority.
Two weeks ago, Chile's Supreme Court appointed Luis Correa Bulo to resolve Argentina's extradition request. Pinochet's extradition was requested by Argentine judge Juan Jose Galeano for trial for the death of former Chilean Army Chief Carlos Prats and his wife in Argentina in 1974.
Prats opposed Pinochet's coup which overthrew President Salvador Allende in 1973. He and his wife Sofia Cuthbert were killed in a car bomb in Buenos Aires in September 1974.
An alleged Chilean spy living in Argentina since 1971, Arancibia Clavel, was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday by an Argentine court. Clavel is believed to be an agent of Pinochet's now-defunct DINA secret police.
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