Chile appeals court rules Pinochet can be tried on Operation Colombo charges News
Chile appeals court rules Pinochet can be tried on Operation Colombo charges

[JURIST] A Chilean appeals court ruled Wednesday that former dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] is healthy enough to stand trial for alleged human rights abuses stemming from the 1975 Operation Colombo [Wikipedia backgrounder] massacre. The ruling, one of several concerning whether Pinochet will stand trial for abuses committed during his regime, clears the way for prosecutors to bring Pinochet to trial on accusations that he was involved in the killings of 119 political dissidents during the 1975 massacre. In addition to corruption and tax evasion charges [JURIST reports], Chile's courts have been considering whether to lift Pinochet's immunity and whether he is competent to stand trial on charges in multiple rights cases, including alleged torture at Villa Grimaldi, crimes committed as part of the so-called Caravan of Death and alleged kidnappings during Operation Condor [JURIST reports]. Pinochet, who suffers from mild dementia, diabetes, and arthritis, claims that the dissidents who disappeared in 1975 were killed during armed combat between rival factions who opposed his regime. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

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