Augusto Pinochet: Charges Timelines
1998: Former Chilean dictator General Pinochet travels to U.K. for medical treatment, where he is arrested and held in U.K. under an international warrant from Spain.
March 2000: Pinochet, having been ruled unfit for trial in the U.K., is returned to Chile.
August 26, 2004: The Chilean Supreme Court upholds lower court ruling from May 2004 which strips for the first time former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet of his
immunity from prosecution in relation to Operation Condor charges.
September 28, 2004: Prosecutors report that Pinochet has denied
any knowledge or involvement in Operation Condor and its associated human rights abuses.
October 15, 2004: A Chilean Court announces that results of
medical tests on Pinochet reveal that he suffers from 'moderate dementia,' although he has not been declared unfit to stand trial.
November 29, 2004: Chilean President Ricardo Lagos announces that the Chilean government will offer
lifelong pensions to victims of torture under Pinochet's regime.
December 13, 2004: Pinochet is indicted for
human rights violations related to Operation Condor.
January 4, 2005: The
Chilean Supreme Court upholds the indictment and house arrest of Pinochet in relation to Operation Condor human rights charges.
January 25, 2005: Chile's Supreme Court sets a
six month deadline for all human rights investigations to either result in charges against General Pinochet or be ended.
April 15, 2005: Human rights groups appeal Court's deadline for bringing charges against Pinochet for human rights violations.
September 15, 2005: Chile's
Supreme Court upholds Pinochet's acquittal on charges that he ordered political abductions and murders as part of Operation Condor.
December 7, 2005: Chilean Appeals court
strips Pinochet of immunity to face additional human rights charges relating to the disappearance of 29 dissidents during Operation Condor.
January 15, 2006: Michelle Bachelet, who along with her parents,
was a
torture victim in 1973 at the beginning of Pinochet's regime, is elected President of Chile.
Operation Colombo Charges
July 6, 2005: Santiago Appeals court strips Pinochet of his immunity so he
will face charges of
human rights abuses during Operation Columbo.
July 8, 2005: Santiago Appeals Court rules that Pinochet is
physically and mentally fit to stand trial for two alleged murders by agents of his regime in 1973.
September 7, 2005: Chile Supreme court agrees to hear
appeal on Pinochet's immunity which was revoked for the Operation Colombo case by the intermediate Chilean court.
September 14, 2005: Chile Supreme court holds that Pinochet was correctly
stripped of his immunity and
will stand trial for Operation Colombo charges.
November 9, 2005: Doctors report that Pinochet is fit to stand trial in connection to killings during Operation Colombo.
November 24, 2005: Pinochet is indicted on
human rights violations in
connection to Operation Colombo's disappearance of six dissidents in
1974.
December 6, 2005: Chilean Judge announces that Pinochet will face human
rights charges in connection to
three more dissidents' disappearances during Operation Colombo.
December 26, 2005: Chile Supreme Court upholds decision that despite
Pinochet's health conditions, he is
fit to stand trial for Operation Colombo human rights abuses.
January 9, 2006: Pinochet, having been granted bail earlier in the week on
six charges related to dissident disappearances, is
granted bail on the three remaining charges stemming from Operation Colombo.
February 1, 2006: A Chilean appeals court holds that Pinochet is
healthy enough to stand trial for charges relating to Operation Columbo.
October, 2004: Pinochet is charged with
tax evasion by the Chilean Inland Revenue Office.
June 7, 2005: The Santiago Appeals court strips Pinochet of his immunity
so he can face
tax fraud charges regarding his $17 million dollars hidden in secret bank accounts.
August 10, 2005: Pinochet's wife and son are charged as
accomplices to tax fraud.
October 19, 2005: Chile's Supreme Court strips Pinochet of his immunity to
face
tax evasion charges regarding $27 million hidden in offshore accounts.
November 23, 2005: Pinochet is
indicted on tax evasion and corruption charges and placed in house arrest in connection to $27 million he held in offshore accounts.
December 30, 2005: Santiago Court of Appeals lifts Pinochet's
immunity in fraud charges stemming from an investigation into the embezzlement of millions of dollars in public funds during Pinochet's rule.
April 7, 2006: Santiago Court of Appeals
dismisses counts of forgery and failure to report in Pinochet's tax evasion indictment, while upholding the tax evasion charge on two other counts.
August 18, 2006: Supreme Court of Chile strips Pinochet of immunity in
additional tax fraud charges relating to his $27 million dollar tax fraud case.
October 25, 2006: Chilean government officials requested a probe into allegations that former Chile dictator Augusto Pinochet
stashed approximately nine tons of gold in a Hong Kong bank.
October 27, 2006: The Chilean office of the HSBC bank
denied that it had any accounts in the name of Pinochet and that bank documents detailing Pinochet's alleged $160 million gold fortune supposedly held in its Hong Kong branch are forgeries.
December 2, 2004: A Chilean Court strips Pinochet of immunity for a
second time, this time for charges related to the killing of General Carlos Prats.
March 24, 2005: Chile's Supreme Court
reinstates Pinochet's immunity, holding that Pinochet cannot be tried for the killing of his predecessor and rival, General Carlos Prats.
June 21, 2005: Pinochet suffers a
stroke; his second one in a month.
"Caravan of Death" Charges
January 11, 2006: Santiago Court of Appeals lifts Pinochet's
immunity in another human rights charge regarding two victims of the "Caravan of Death."
July 17, 2006: Chile's Supreme Court
upholds the removal of Pinochet's immunity, allowing a homicide case stemming from the "Caravan of Death" to proceed against him.
November 27, 2006: Chilean Judge Victor Montiglio
indicted Pinochet and placed him under house arrest in connection with the firing-squad deaths during the so-called Caravan of Death.
January 20, 2006: A Chilean appeals court lifts
Pinochet's immunity so he can face charges involving the torture of thousands at Villa Grimaldi, an infamous political detention center run by Pinochet's secret police between 1974 and 1977.
September 8, 2006: Chile Supreme Court
upholds removing Pinochet's immunity in human rights violations alleged in connection with
Villa Grimaldi prison.
October 18, 2006: Pinochet denies to a federal judge any involvement or awareness of torture at Villa Grimaldi.
October 27, 2006: Chilean federal judge
orders Pinochet's arrest on charges connected to multiple cases of kidnapping and torture, and one case of homicide, at the Villa Grimaldi prison.
October 30, 2006: Pinochet is placed under
house arrest for charges related to the Villa Grimaldi prison abuses.
October 12, 2006: Santiago Court of Appeals votes to
remove Pinochet's immunity in a case about the kidnapping and murder of secret police chemist Eugenio Berrios, potential witness regarding the murder of Pinochet's rival Orlando Letelier.
November 8, 2006: A Chilean appeals court again stripped Pinochet of immunity, this time in a case involving the 1974
disappearance of Spanish priest Antonio Llido.
Death of Pinochet and Aftermath
December 11, 2006: Chileans
react to the death of Pinochet in divergent ways, while international human rights groups denounce the fact that Pinochet was never tried for his alleged human rights abuses.
January 4, 2007: Chilean appeals court
drops tax evasion charges against the widow and two children of Pinochet.
March 27, 2007: Pinochet is
posthumously investigated for possibly ordering the murder of former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva in 1982.
August 3, 2007: Chilean authorities announce the
capture of former Gen. Raul Iturriaga Neumann, a former high-ranking intelligence official during Pinochet’s reign.
August 29, 2007: Supreme Court of Chile
upholds the life sentence for former National Intelligence Centre director General Hugo Salas Wenzel for his involvement in the murder of 12 suspected opposition members during the reign of Pinochet.
October 4, 2007: Twenty-three family members and former associates of Pinochet are
indicted in Chile on corruption charges.
October 7, 2007: Pinochet’s family members and former associates were
ordered released on bail by a three-member panel of an appeals court in Chile.
October 13, 2007: Supreme Court of Chile begins an investigation into whether Carlos Cerda, the judge who indicted 23 relatives and associates of Pinochet,
violated a judiciary rule that "forbids judges from criticizing other judges” by telling reporters in the U.S. that Chilean courts violated human rights during Pinochet's dictatorship.
October 26, 2007: Embezzlement charges against the widow and five sons of Pinochet, originally indicted with 17 others on October 4,
are dropped.
December 29, 2007: Agents of Pinochet are
sentenced for their role in the revenge killings of three political dissidents.
March 20, 2008: A Chilean court convicts 24 former Chilean police officers of
human rights violations for their role in murders of leftist prisoners which took place during the regime of Pinochet.
April 17, 2008: A Chilean court sentence retired General Manuel Contreras to
15 years in prison for his role in the 1974 disappearance of a political dissident.
April 19, 2008: A Chilean court
indicts five navy officers for their role in the kidnapping, torture, and killings of political dissidents.
May 27, 2008: A Chilean judge orders the
arrest of 98 people suspected of covering up over 100 kidnappings and murders during Pinochet’s rule.
July 1, 2008: General Manuel Contreras, the head of the National Intelligence Directive under Pinochet, is
sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for a 1974 car bombing that killed another general and his wife.
October 15, 2008: Chile's Supreme Court
sentences five former Chilean military officers for their role in the killings as part of the "Caravan of Death."
|
post comment
|
how to subscribe |
© JURIST
