[JURIST] Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] told federal judge Alejandro Solis during a meeting Wednesday that he neither participated in nor was aware of the torture of thousands of citizens at Villa Grimaldi prison [Wikipedia backgrounder], the infamous political detention center allegedly operated by Pinochet’s secret police in Chile [JURIST news archive] between 1974 and 1977. Solis, who reportedly plans to charge Pinochet with the torture and disappearance of political prisoners, questioned Pinochet for the first time Wednesday in conjunction with the Villa Grimaldi investigation. The Supreme Court of Chile [official website, in Spanish] issued a ruling last month in which it divested Pinochet of immunity [JURIST report] in the Villa Grimaldi case and set the stage for potential human rights [JURIST news archive] charges against the former dictator. Reuters has more.

Just last week, the Santiago Court of Appeals [Chilean judiciary website] voted to strip Pinochet's immunity in another human rights case [JURIST report] concerning the kidnapping and murder of a chemist who worked for the secret police.