Fight goes on against Pinochet

The suspension of proceedings pleased Pinochet's supporters

A French lawyer investigating the disappearance of French citizens during the military regime in Chile has said she will continue proceedings against former ruler General Augusto Pinochet.

On Monday, a Santiago appeals court voted in favour of suspending proceedings against General Pinochet on the grounds he is mentally unfit to stand trial.

More than 3,000 "disappeared" during Pinochet's rule

Sophie Thonon said the ruling as a scandalous interpretation of Chilean law, but said she would not give up because it did not affect the judicial process in France.

Lawyers in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and Argentina are also investigating cases of human rights abuse during the military regime in Chile.

Technically, Monday's decision by the Santiago Court of Appeals only delays the legal process until the general's condition improves, but prosecuting lawyers say his age means the case has effectively been abandoned.

The court's decision sparked angry protests by about 500 opponents of the general in Santiago, which police quelled with water cannon and tear gas.

Call for acceptance

President Ricardo Lagos was swift to call on his fellow Chileans to respect the ruling, saying the three judges had acted independently in their 2-1 vote to suspend legal action on health grounds.

I hope with this ruling that our father can have a little more peace during what is left of his life

Pinochet's son, Marco Antonio

Dementia and memory loss were given as reasons for not trying General Pinochet, 85, who has been under house arrest charged as an accessory to 75 cases of politically-motivated kidnapping and murder carried out at the beginning of his 1973-90 rule.

"We all must accept this decision," said President Lagos, a socialist jailed by General Pinochet in 1987.

Prosecution lawyers said they were ready to take the case to the Supreme Court, but admitted they were not likely to succeed.

Protests

Relatives of the thousands of people who disappeared during the general's time in power described the ruling as "shameful".

Pinochet is charged as an accessory to kidnap and murder

"Once again the country is being lied to; once again, justice is not being done in our country," one of their leaders, Viviana Diaz, told Spanish radio.

General Pinochet is accused of covering up dozens of killings and abductions by an army squad known as the Caravan of Death after he came to power in a coup in 1973.

His opponents say he had a clear responsibility for the slaughter, sending a close associate to head the squad. He has repeatedly denied any responsibility.

The charges are among the more than 250 complaints filed against him for alleged human rights abuses during his 17-year rule, when more than 3,000 people were executed or disappeared presumed dead.

If convicted, he faced being sentenced to up to five years in jail.