[JURIST] Twenty-three family members and former associates of late Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] were ordered released [BBC report] on bail Saturday by a three-member panel of an appeals court in Chile. The appeals court upheld a Friday lower court ruling granting the bail. A Chilean judge indicted [JURIST story] the individuals - including Pinochet's widow and five children - Thursday on corruption charges stemming from Pinochet's 1973-1990 tenure as Chilean president. Reuters has more.

Pinochet died of a heart attack [JURIST report] in December 2006 without ever facing trial on multiple charges of tax evasion and human rights violations. Chilean authorities nonetheless began an investigation [JURIST report] earlier this year to determine whether Pinochet ordered state officials to murder former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva [Britannica profile] in 1982.