Augusto Pinochet

The Supreme Court's 15-4 vote reverses a ruling by a lower court that had agreed to strip the 89-year-old of the immunity he enjoys as former president.

However, Pinochet faces trial in other cases related to alleged human rights abuses, as his immunity can only be applied or stripped in each individual case.

The decision reverses a Dec. 2 ruling by the Santiago Court of Appeals, which had voted 14-9 to strip Pinochet of immunity at the request of Judge Alejandro Solis, who is investigating the 1974 assassination in Buenos Aires of Gen. Carlos Prats, Pinochet's predecessor as army commander.

Prats had opposed the Sept. 11, 1973, coup that ushered Pinochet to power for 17 years. Prats and his wife, Sophia Cuthbert, were killed when a bomb blew up their automobile.

The investigation in Argentina traced the killing to Pinochet's security service, known as Dina.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 2, 2005
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