Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet
| Augusto Pinochet | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte 25 November 1915 Valparaíso, Chile |
| Died | 10 December 2006 (aged 91) Santiago, Chile at the Military Hospital |
| Cause of death | heart attack |
| Occupation | President |
| Criminal charge |
Caravan of Death Assassination of Carlos Prats Operation Condor Operation Colombo Villa Grimaldi Carmelo Soria Calle Conferencia Antonio Llidó Eugenio Berrios tax evasion passport forgery |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Spouse(s) | Lucía Hiriart |
| Children | Augusto Osvaldo Marco Antonio Inés Lucía María Verónica Jacqueline Marie |
| Parent(s) | Augusto Pinochet Vera Avelina Ugarte Martínez |
General Augusto Pinochet was indicted for human rights violations committed in his native Chile by Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón on 10 October 1998. He was arrested in London six days later and held for a year and a half before finally being released by the British government in March 2000. Authorized to freely return to Chile, Pinochet was there first indicted by judge Juan Guzmán Tapia, and charged with a number of crimes, before dying on 10 December 2006, without having been convicted in any case. His arrest in London made the front-page of newspapers worldwide as not only did it involve the head of the military dictatorship that ruled Chile between 1973 and 1990, but it was the first time that several European judges applied the principle of universal jurisdiction, declaring themselves competent to judge crimes committed by former heads of state, despite local amnesty laws.
Pinochet came to power in a violent 11 September 1973 coup which deposed Socialist President Salvador Allende. His 17-year regime was responsible for numerous human rights violations, a number of which committed as part of Operation Condor, an illegal effort to suppress political opponents in Chile and abroad in coordination with foreign intelligence agencies. Pinochet was also accused of using his position to pursue personal enrichment through embezzlement of government funds, the illegal drug trade and illegal arms trade. The Rettig Report found that at least 2,279 persons were conclusively murdered by the Chilean government for political reasons during Pinochet's regime, and the Valech Report found that at least 30,000 persons were tortured by the government for political reasons.
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