Legal loophole gives Pinochet breather on murder charges

By JAN McGIRK Herald Correspondent

SANTIAGO - Homicide and kidnapping charges against General Augusto Pinochet have been dropped, after a Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the arrest warrant for the former dictator of Chile could not stand because the judge did not first question the defendant.

Sergio Castro, a euphoric defence lawyer, held up three fingers, to indicate the 3-0 decision in the general's favour, but human rights lawyers for the prosecution vowed to appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court within 24 hours. Carmen Hertz, the widow of a disappeared dissident and a human rights lawyer, shrugged off yesterday's verdict as a "mere technicality."

"The ruling does not involve the essence of the case against him. We will go to the Supreme Court," she said.

Once the courts have made a final ruling, expected within a fortnight, President Ricardo Lagos has agreed to convene a Security Council of top military leaders. Under Chile's constitution, the military must have a political voice in times of national crisis. The Armed Forces Commander in Chief, Ricardo Izurieta, last week cautioned the President that Chile's stability would be threatened if Pinochet, aged 85, were indicted.

The frail great-grandfather, who once boasted that not even a leaf in Chile shook without his knowledge, has yet to undergo required mental and physical fitness examinations to determine whether he can be excused from trial on the grounds of dementia. There are 189 separate lawsuits against the man who ruled Chile for 17 years, and the controversial arrest warrant issued by the investigating magistrate, Juan Guzman, dealt only with the 73 murders and abductions linked to the notorious Caravan of Death. Helicopters of Government henchmen flew to execute leftist prisoners in remote northern provinces in the months after the ousting of Salvador Allende in 1973.

Judge Guzman was fined for showing partiality after writing to Clara Szczaranski - one of the plaintiffs in the Death Caravan lawsuit - supporting her innocence in a separate case. The justices ruled that he will be allowed to continue his investigatory and judicial duties.

President Lagos, a socialist, has insisted that the high-profile lawsuit against the former tyrant be a showcase for the evolution of Chile's justice system. The country remains divided between conservatives who are grateful to the Pinochet regime for preventing anarchy, and leftists who condemn the torture and murder that he oversaw. The Government admits to more than 3000 forced disappearances between 1973 and 1990.