British Court to Rule on Pinochet Extradition
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LONDON — Britain’s highest court today is scheduled to hear an appeal against a ruling that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is immune from prosecution and cannot be extradited to Spain to face charges of torture and genocide.
If the five British law lords rule in Pinochet’s favor when they deliver their judgment at the end of the week, he could be freed at once.
A Chilean aircraft is waiting at an airfield near London to whisk him out of the country.
The Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzon, has expanded his charges against Pinochet to cover the deaths or disappearances of more than 3,000 people.
French prosecutors have also formally asked Britain for Pinochet’s immediate arrest.
Pinochet, 82, was arrested Oct. 16 as he lay in his bed at an exclusive central London clinic after back surgery.
Opponents of Pinochet on Tuesday staged an emotional “hearing” in which they described the mass murder, rape, torture and beatings they say took place during his 1973-90 reign.
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