Rights charges against Pinochet
2005-11-24 21:21
Santiago - Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was indicted on human rights charges on Thursday and placed under house arrest, a court official said, hours after he made bail on unrelated corruption charges filed only a day earlier.
In a widely expected decision, Judge Victor Montiglio charged Pinochet in connection with the kidnapping and disappearance of three dissidents in the early years of his 1973-90 dictatorship, the court official said on customary condition of anonymity.
Local news media reported that Montiglio went to Pinochet's mansion to personally inform him of the charges.
The charges mean Pinochet will almost certainly spend his 90th birthday on Friday under arrest.
He had been indicted and put under house arrest on Wednesday by another judge, Carlos Cerda, on charges of tax evasion and corruption.
On Thursday, the Santiago court of appeals granted Pinochet freedom on a 6 million-peso ($11 500) bond.
Pinochet had previously been placed under house arrest twice on human rights charges, but courts blocked both trials because of his poor health.
- AP