Chile high court reinstates Pinochet immunity News
Chile high court reinstates Pinochet immunity

[JURIST] Chile's Supreme Court [official website] ruled Thursday that ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] cannot be prosecuted over the killing of his predecessor as Chile's army chief, General Carlos Prats [profile in Spanish]. The ruling reverses a lower court ruling that had stripped Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution in the 1974 car bombing assassination of Prats. The Supreme Court reversed the Santiago Appeals Court because the appeal court had already refused an Argentine judge's request to have his immunity removed. The Court did not address the allegations made in the case. Former Chilean secret police agent Enrique Arancibia is currently serving a life sentence for his role in Prats' assasination. Pinochet still faces various other charges. Last year, the Supreme Court removed Pinochet's immunity in the case of his role in Operation Condor [Wikipedia profile], a conspiracy by six South American regimes kill their left-wing opponents. From Santiago, La Nacion has local coverage. Reuters has more.