Posted on 07/01/2002 3:40:25 PM PDT by GeneD
Filed at 6:15 p.m. ET
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Chile's highest court ruled Monday that Augusto Pinochet can't be put on trial because of his mental problems, a decision that will likely end the 85-year-old former dictator's legal troubles.
Voting 4 to 1, the Supreme Court reaffirmed a stay of proceedings ordered a year ago by an appeals court.
The court cited the mental health problems of Pinochet, who suffers from dementia, an irreversible mental illness, as the reason for its decision.
The four judges supporting the stay ordered lower court judge Juan Guzman to halt a criminal case brought two years ago against Pinochet.
Guzman launched the case after Pinochet returned from England, where he had spent 503 days under house arrest after a Spanish judge requested his extradition for human rights abuses committed during his regime from 1973 to 1990.
Monday's decision did not acquit Pinochet -- rather, it just determined that he can't be put on trial because of his health. Pinochet also suffers from diabetes and arthritis, has a pacemaker and has had at least three mild strokes since 1998.
He is accused of 18 kidnappings and 57 homicides in the ``Caravan of Death,'' a military squad that executed 75 political prisoners shortly after he seized power in 1973.
Pinochet, 86, spent the middle of last week in the Military Hospital for a cold and dental problems. Those close to him say his health is very delicate, though his opponents say these accounts are exaggerated, denying even that he has diabetes.
Since the legal procedures have begun, Pinochet has been living in recluse in some of his luxurious homes in Santiago as well as in coastal towns.
Guzman's office said the judge will continue to try other officials, such as Gen. Sergio Arellano, accused of being involved in the murders. Arellano was the alleged head of the ``death caravan'' sent by Pinochet to cities throughout the north and south of Chile to execute those detained during his dictatorship.
Viviana Diez, the president of the group for families of those kidnapped in this era, said that she was disappointed with the decision.
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