Chile court strips Pinochet immunity in tax case

[bemildred]

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Chile's Supreme Court stripped former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution on Wednesday so he can face charges of tax fraud involving an estimated $27 million in offshore accounts, a court source told Reuters.

The decision supports an earlier lower court ruling that was appealed by Pinochet's defense, opening the way for the retired general to be indicted for tax evasion.

Pinochet, who is 89 and ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990 after a military coup, has been stripped of his presidential immunity from prosecution in a handful of human rights cases but has not had to face the charges because his lawyers have successfully argued he is too ill for a criminal trial.


Reuters

[1932]

1. I can't remember where I read this,

but IIRC, one of the reasons the US, UK, and Chile negotiated to have Pinochet returned to Chile when he was under house arrest in the UK was because the Chilean government at the time said that they were making progress moving popular opinion against what Pinochet had done whil he was dictator. They said that if he were tried in Spain, it would create a backlash that could result in a more conservative government winning the next election. The government wanted to work on this case at their own speed, bringing the charges when they felt Chileans were ready and there wasn't going to be an anti-progressive backlash.

It seems that the strategy might be working.

I might have read this in Clinton's biography, but I'm not sure.

[John Q. Citizen]

2. If a country is capable of prosecuting their own rogue leaders,

it is so much better for them to do so themselves from a purely sociological point of view. It encourages and strengthens the concept of peace and justice. Chile has a long and proud national tradition of democracy and Pinochet was a national black eye on that tradition.

[1932]

3. It definitely would have been a setback for Chile

if a pro-Pinochet party won the next elections as a backlash to Spanish prosecution of Pinochet.

It is fantastic that Chile is taking this forward.

[SharonAnn]

5. Fortunately, Clinton was president then. Bush would've wanted Pinochet

or his cronies back in power and would've helped make that happen.

[0007]

4. Now let's get Henry Kissingerand put him away.

[struggle4progress]

6. Pinochet closer to being indicted

SANTIAGO (EFE) - Chile’s Supreme Court took another step Wednesday toward a trial on corruption charges of Augusto Pinochet, 89, the former dictator who has escaped prosecution so far for his role in the torture and summary execution of thousands of political opponents.

Pinochet is on the verge of being indicted for tax evasion and other financial crimes, now that the Chilean Supreme Court has upheld an earlier court ruling lifting his immunity from prosecution in this case, an immunity he enjoyed on the basis of his status as former president.

The high court thus authorized an investigation of some of Pinochet’s incomplete tax returns and an assets declaration he made upon stepping down from the presidency in 1990 that may have been doctored.

The former dictator will also be investigated over some forged passports and war office tax documents attesting to his income. <snip>

http://www.thedailyjournalonline.com/article.asp?Articl...

[Say_What]

7. Pinochet Son Booked for Corruption

The 'family that preys together' also applies to the Pinochets.

<clips>

Pinochet Son Booked for Corruption

Santiago de Chile, Oct 21 (Prensa Latina) The younger son of ex Dictator Augusto Pinochet was booked Friday for participating in a notorious corruption case, in which his father is on trial for illegal enrichment.

Marcos Antonio Pinochet Hiriart appeared as ordered by Supreme Court Judge Sergio Muñoz. The younger of the Pinochet sons and his mother, Lucía Hiriart, were charged August 10 as accomplices in tax evasion, one of the three charges that led to Pinochet´s being stripped of immunity on Wednesday.

Marcos Antonio was jailed for three weeks in August until released on 18 thousand dollar bail. His mother, 82, paid 3,700 in bail.

Pinochet Hiriart is charged with playing a key role in the complex financial operations ordered by the ex General to hide huge sums of money and goods, estimated at more than 27 million dollars, outside the country.

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BFAB75FCF-E1F...