Friday, October 8, 1999 Published at 13:01 GMT 14:01 UK
Way cleared for Pinochet extradition
Anti-Pinochet demonstrators welcomed the ruling
Chile's former military leader, General Augusto Pinochet, can be extradited to Spain to stand trial for torture and human rights charges, a UK court has ruled.
The general responded to the ruling saying it was politically motivated.
"It has long been clear that my extradition is politically motivated and being pursued clearly for political reasons," said a statement read to the court by his barrister, Clive Nicholls QC.
The general, who is 83, had been excused from attending Friday's hearing on the grounds of ill health.
The statement continued: "It acts in violation of the sovereignty of Chile.
"The events in Chile have nothing whatsoever to do with Spain.''
Long legal battle
The decision is unlikely to have any immediate impact on the year-long legal battle.
The general will remain under house arrest near London while his lawyers consider an appeal to the High Court.
It will still be down to Mr Straw, who earlier ruled that the case could go forward in the courts, to make the final decision on Gen Pinochet's fate.
The decision has been welcomed by human rights groups.
Geoffrey Bindman, a lawyer for Amnesty International, said: "The wider effect of the torture convention and the knowledge which should now be spread among all torturers and all is that there is no hiding place.
"If they go to any country that has signed the torture convention they will be prosecuted and extradited as necessary."
He said he was not surprised by the court's decision but detaining the general in the UK could seriously damage the country's relationship with Chile and South America.
Lord Lamont said: "I fear for Britain's relationship with Chile will be badly damaged, particularly if General Pinochet dies here."
The ruling is the latest crucial stage in a long legal battle sparked by the general's arrest while undergoing medical treatment in London in October last year.
His detention was upheld by Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, in March, although it reduced the charges against him to those dated after December 1988, when Britain incorporated an international torture convention into law.
Senor Garzon then added more post-1988 charges. But Gen Pinochet's lawyers argued that all but two of these are invalid because they did not appear in the original charges against him at the time of his arrest.
The defence team also argued that some of the charges do not meet the international definition for torture, that Spain does not have jurisdiction, and that the general cannot be held personally responsible for the alleged crimes.
But the prosecution said the general could be extradited even on the basis of just one torture charge.