Word: pinochets
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...This ruling is the result of political pressures over the court," prosecution lawyer Eduardo Contreras said after the ruling. "But Pinochet will still go into history as having been indicted on human rights charges...
...Among the likely pressures on the judges was the possibility that a Pinochet trial would tear Chile in two, according to Cristobal Edwards, a TIME correspondent in Santiago. With Chileans divided between intense love and hate for their former ruler, a trial could have spurred a social civil war. "For months they've been trying to find a way out that suits everyone's needs," says Edwards...
...There's no middle ground here, but they're trying to find a way to try Pinochet without having him tried, if that makes sense. He is ill, he forgets things here and there - it is questionable whether he is really unable to stand trial, but the fact is that he is very ill, and I guess this is a good compromise...
...ruling came after a weekend of rumors that Pinochet had died, said Edwards. "His family came forth promptly and said 'no, he's alive but very ill,'" said Edwards. "Some people are saying that those rumors were spread in anticipation of this ruling...
...Prosecutors said Monday that they would seek a reversal of the ruling, but the possibility of Pinochet's health improving enough to resume talk of a trial appears...