Key Pinochet Ruling Near

A key ruling looms in a Chilean trial against former dictator Augusto Pinochet, which experts say could halt efforts to put the ex-ruler in the dock for past human rights crimes.

A court is expected to decide within a week whether to suspend a case against the 85-year old former general, accused of covering up killings of leftist opponents during his 17-year rule, on the grounds that he is mentally unfit to face trial.

Prosecutor Eduardo Contreras said Pinochet has health problems, but is "not crazy or demented" the only conditions that would exempt him from prosecution.

"Health is not reason to suspend this legal process against Pinochet," Contreras said in the second day of hearings on Pinochet's fitness.

Four prosecution lawyers made their case on Tuesday before the Santiago Court of Appeals, one day after Pinochet's chief lawyer, Pablo Rodriguez, asked the court to suspend legal action against Pinochet claiming that he is too ill to stand trial.

On Tuesday, Rodriguez insisted that "Gen. Pinochet has 11 serious health problems, at age 86." Pinochet actually is 85.

If the court rules in favor of Pinochet, most observers agree the prosecution's case would crumble.

"His health is not going to get better. He has a series of problems … and is 85 years old. There is no way Pinochet would be tried again," said Carlos Lopez Dawson, legal expert and secretary general of the Chilean Human Rights Commission.

Even if the judges declare Pinochet fit to be prosecuted, few in Chile believe he will face a full trial. Legal appeals could keep him out of court for years.

During his 16 months under house arrest in London, the Chilean govenment fought for his release. It said he should face the courts in his own country, where more than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared under Pinochet's iron-fisted rule.

Until now, Pinochet's Chilean lawyers have argued he should not be tried because it would endanger his frail physical health.

But in hearings this week, lawyers say Pinochet's defense has argued that the ex-strongman could be found "insane" or — "demented".

Under Chilean law, an accused can only be declared exempt from trial on mental health grounds if he is severely mentally impaired.

The aging general suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and mild brain damage resulting in partial memory loss, according to court-ordered medical exams.

The prosecution says Pinochet is well enough to go on trial. "These are minor symptoms. This is a form of moderate dementia and to suspend the case would not be appropriate," said plaintiff lawyer Juan Bustos.

Pinochet is specifically charged with covering up 75 killings and kidnappings of suspected leftists committed by a military hit squad "Caravan of Death" that toured northern Chile shortly after a bloody September 1973 coup. He denies the charge.

"I am not a criminal. I never ordered anybody killed," he told the indicting judge, Juan Guzman, earlier this year.

Pinochet has not been called into court to answer the charges and has resisted attempts to have himself fingerprinted and photographed for police files.

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