Chile high court upholds Pinochet acquittal on murder conspiracy charges News
Chile high court upholds Pinochet acquittal on murder conspiracy charges

[JURIST] Chile's Supreme Court Thursday upheld the acquittal of former dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] on charges that he ordered political abductions and murders as part of "Operation Condor" [Wikipedia backgrounder], a conspiracy between South American dictators during the 1970s to eliminate political opponents and dispose of the bodies in different countries. The high court decision comes just one day after the court lifted Pinochet's immunity [JURIST report] in a separate case, one that is investigating a 1970s government campaign known as Operation Colombo. Thursday's acquittal in the Operation Condor case will not prevent prosecutors from charging Pinochet for Operation Colombo, which is said to have organized the disappearance and deaths of over 100 members of the Revolutionary Leftist Movement. AFP has more. From Santiago, La Nacion has local coverage.