|
12th December 2006
THE remains of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, who died known for the mass torture and murder during his regime, were cremated on 13th December following a military ceremony attended by thousands.
Pinochet had granted himself, and the rest of the Chilean military, an amnesty for the crimes committed during his period of rule. He had also made himself a senator for life, which gave him immunity from prosecution and, he thought, diplomatic immunity when travelling abroad.
Pinochet was arrested after a Spanish magistrate requested his extradition for violating international law in the period between his coup d'etat in 1973 and when he relinquished the presidency of Chile in 1990.
Pinochet's claim to immunity was initially accepted at the divisional court, but this was appealed up to the House of Lords, which famously ruled that it did not cover a former head of state for serious international crimes such as torture and genocide.
|
