IHT : Chilean Court orders arrests of Pinochet's kin and close allies

Chilean Court orders arrests of Pinochet's kin and close allies

By Pascale Bonnefoy and Alexei Barrionuevo | October 4, 2007

SANTIAGO, Chile, Oct. 4 — A Chilean judge on Thursday ordered the arrests of the widow and five children of General Augusto Pinochet and 17 of his closest military and civilian collaborators on charges of misappropriating public funds.

Although charges relating to tax fraud had been brought against his wife and son and two other associates earlier, it was the first time that such a large group of his inner circle had faced such charges.

In a 60-page ruling, Judge Carlos Cerda said the 23 people benefited from at least $20 million withdrawn from discretionary funds allotted to the presidency, the office of the commander in chief, and the Casa Militar, a body created in 1981 that consisted of the dictator's closest advisers. Judge Cerda stated that the funds were transferred to private accounts abroad, often under imprecise or false names.

Human rights lawyers praised the decision as an example of Chilean courts' affirming the rule of law. President Michelle Bachelet told reporters the decision showed that "no one is above the law."

The decision to prosecute the family and associates of Pinochet comes on the heels of cases in which Latin American judges and courts have stood up to powerful figures.

Last month, Chile's Supreme Court voted to extradite Alberto Fujimori, the former Peruvian president, to Peru on human rights and corruption charges. In August, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to indict several members of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's governing party on corruption charges, including his former chief of staff.

"The history of Latin America is one full of impunity for the powerful," said José Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director for Human Rights Watch. "That history has been changing gradually."

Chilean courts began investigating Pinochet's fortune in mid-2004, after a United States Senate report revealed that he had hidden at least $8 million in secret accounts at Riggs Bank in Washington. Chilean magistrates later found he had concealed nearly $26 million in dozens of accounts in different parts of the world under numerous false names.

Among those indicted Thursday were 10 retired army officers, including the former vice commander in chief, General Guillermo Garín.

The civilians indicted include Pinochet's personal secretary, Mónica Ananías; and the attorney general under his rule, Ambrosio Rodríguez.

All five Pinochet children were in police custody on Thursday. Lucía Hiriart, 85, Pinochet's widow, was taken to the Military Hospital in Santiago, reportedly suffering from high blood pressure.

Pablo Rodríguez, the lawyer representing Hiriart and Marco Antonio Pinochet, one of her sons, filed an appeal, saying that Judge Cerda's resolution was "illegal, abusive, and contrary to basic human rights."

At the time of his death last December at age 91, Pinochet was being tried for tax evasion, tax fraud, falsification of official documents and the use of fake passports. He had also been indicted in three human rights cases, and was under investigation for dozens more.

Alexei Barrionuevo contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro.