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Pinochet Rejects Human Rights Charges
Chile's former military leader Augusto Pinochet told his supporters on Saturday that he was innocent of human rights charges filed against him.
Addressing some 300 people who attended a Mass to pray for Pinochet's health, retired General Luis Cortes quoted Pinochet as saying "I feel a great pain because I am innocent."
"Tell my ministers that I feel proud that they worked with me. Tell my generals, my soldiers, tell everybody not to be ashamed of me, because I am innocent," Pinochet said.
Chile's Santiago Appeals Court ruled on July 9 that Pinochet was mentally unfit to stand trial on charges of concealing political killings. The ruling effectively suspended the legal action against Pinochet, but prosecution lawyers vowed to raise the case with the Supreme Court.
Pinochet is charged in connection with the so-called "Caravan of Death," a military operation that killed 75 political prisoners shortly after the 1973 military coup in which Pinochet ousted president Salvador Allende. Pinochet faces charges of covering up 18 kidnappings and 57 homicides.
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