Word: pinochets
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...smell of his own fear was an unfamiliar experience for General Augusto Pinochet. That much is clear from the former Chilean dictator's statement Sunday on his detention in Britain. "My wife was the one who explained to me why I had been arrested...," Pinochet began. "I was hurt and bewildered." Even if the House of Lords this week overturns his arrest, the general's opponents will take his statement as a victory. "This is the first time Pinochet's been forced to account for himself, and he's clearly shaken," says TIME Latin America bureau chief Tim Padgett...
...Pinochet's statement defends his junta's human rights abuses on the grounds that he was at war with dangerous Marxists. But there are cracks in the general's once-stony demeanor. "I wish things could have been different," he says at one point. His claim that his arrest is "certainly not British justice" remains to be determined this week by the House of Lords -- but it won't be helped by the fact that none of the 3,000 people kidnapped and killed by his junta ever saw the inside of a courtroom. The British take a dim view...
Autumn just got chillier for Chile's patriarch. The Spanish government on Friday formalized its request to extradite General Augusto Pinochet, leaving the ex-dictator's fate in the hands of Britain's House of Lords. The bewigged Law Lords will next week rule on the legality of Pinochet's arrest by British police. If they uphold it, he could be headed for a long holiday in Spain...
...Lords are being asked to overturn a High Court ruling that Pinochet enjoys immunity for crimes allegedly committed as head of state. "The legal issues at stake here have global implications," says TIME U.N. correspondent William Dowell. "The argument being presented is that a crime against humanity cannot enjoy immunity in any circumstances. Setting that precedent would pardon dictators from Idi Amin to Karadzic -- it even would have pardoned Hitler." Meanwhile, France, Switzerland and Sweden are all completing their own extradition requests. Take a number and stand in line...
Never mind the courts, keep an eye on the airports: The surest sign of General Augusto Pinochet's fate may be the arrival of a Chilean military aircraft in London Monday, ready to take the former dictator home. "Britain's government has backed away from the Pinochet case, saying it's a matter for the courts," says TIME London bureau chief Barry Hillenbrand. "They're committed to seeing through the Spanish extradition request, but this is too hot for Britain to handle alone." As Pinochet's lawyers fought for his release in London, the Spanish high court was considering...