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Former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet was stripped of his legal immunity
Friday to face charges of diverting public funds to personal bank accounts.
Judge Juan Escobar, president of the Santiago Court of Appeals, said his tribunal
voted 21-3 to remove the immunity Pinochet enjoys as a former president.
Friday's decision is part of a wider corruption-related legal process in which
Pinochet also lost immunity against charges of tax evasion and secret overseas
bank accounts totaling as much as $28 million. A person with legal immunity
must be stripped of it separately in each case.
The ruling adds to Pinochet's already difficult legal situation. The 90-year-old
was indicted and has been under house arrest since Nov. 24 for his alleged responsibility
in the killing and disappearance of nine dissidents in the early years of his
1973-90 dictatorship.
In the new case, Judge Carlos Cerda said Pinochet diverted $2 million from the
presidential office to personal accounts abroad.
Pinochet's lawyer, Pablo Rodriguez, was expected to appeal Friday's ruling.
The day before, Rodriguez denied the charges of diverting of funds, saying
that Pinochet was owed $340,000 for government expenses he had paid for with
his personal money.
Cerda cannot bring Pinochet to trial unless the Supreme Court upholds the lower
court's ruling. The top court has already blocked efforts to try Pinochet four
times, saying his health does not allow him to stand trial. Pinochet suffers
from a mild dementia, has had several strokes, suffers from diabetes and arthritis
and has a pacemaker.
Rodriguez said he will again cite health reasons in his appeal.
However, a team of court-appointed doctors who examined Pinochet in October
said his health problems were not serious enough to prevent his trial.
While Pinochet has for years battled charges stemming from human rights abuses
during his long rule, this year was the first time money and corruption charges
were brought against him. In addition to tax evasion charges, he is also accused
of using false passports to open bank accounts abroad.
Pinochet's wife, Lucia Hiriart, and their younger son, Marco Antonio, are also
indicted as accomplices in the tax evasion.
