Pinochet Released On Bail

General Augusto Pinochet says he doesn't recognize the right of any court outside Chile to try him. The former dictator made his defiant statement in a weak voice at the end of his bail hearing in British court Friday.

The hearing - Pinochet's first court appearance in Britain - was part of the process of extraditing Pinochet to Spain, where magistrates want to try him on charges of murder and torture. In his statement, the general referred to what he called "the lies of Spain."

Pinochet traveled to and from court in a green armored personnel carrier, past rival crowds of demonstrators waving signs and chanting slogans for him and against him. He's been released on bail until his next hearing in mid-January.

The judge driving efforts to extradite Pinochet to stand trial in Spain for crimes committed during his 17-year rule on Thursday completed his indictment of the former Chilean dictator.

Judge Baltasar Garzon had earlier charged Pinochet with genocide, torture, and terrorism related to the deaths and disappearances of more than 3,000 people during his virulently anti-Communist regime. It was not clear if Thursday's indictment carried all the same charges.

The indictment came one day after British Home Secretary Jack Straw ruled Spain could begin extradition proceedings against Pinochet, who was arrested Oct. 16 in a London clinic, where he was recuperating from back surgery. Legal experts expect it will be months or even years before it is finally decided whether Pinochet will actually be extradited.

The 83-year-old former dictator was arrested on a warrant issued by Garzon, who had compiled - with the help of human rights organizations - a detailed dossier against Pinochet.

Garzon initially cited 94 Spaniards among the victims as the basis for the extradition, but since has broadened his warrant.

Garzon's move was just the latest in a series of blows to Pinochet.

Garzon, nicknamed "Superjudge" for his penchant for high-profile cases, had rushed to complete the indictment to provide legal underpinnings for his campaign to bring Pinohet to trial in Spain.

Chilean leaders denounced Wednesday's decision by Straw as a violation of Chilean sovereignty and withdrew their ambassador from Britain. They pledged to appeal the ruling by next week at the latest.

With relations between Britain and Chile at a new low, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook wrote to his Chilean counterpart, Jose Miguel Insulza, on Wednesday saying he wanted "to do everything possible" to maintain the relationship between the longtime allies.

But even as the British government scrambled to prevent diplomatic fallout, members of Straw's Labor Party could not hide their glee, breaking into applause Wednesday evening when the home secretary entered the House of Commons chamber.

Straw's decision to approve the Spanish extradition request came two weeks after Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, ruled Pinochet had no immunity from arrest as a former foreign head of state.

A Chilean government report says 3,197 people were killed or disappeared at the hands of the secret police after Pinochet overthrew President Salvador Allende, an elected Marxist, in 1973. Human rights activists say the death toll is even higher.

In making his decision, Straw said he rejected complaints that a judge who swung the 3-2 House of Lords ruling against Pinochet was biased because he heads the fundraising arm of the human rights organization Amnesty International. Straw also said he did not find the general unfit to stand trial.

But the opposition Conservative Party condemned Straw's refusal to consider Chile's request to send Pinochet home. The Chilean government has said the crisis threatens the fragile democracy set up after Pinochet stepped down in 1990 and that crimes committed in Chile should be prosecuted in Chile. Before relinquishing power, however, Pinochet gave himself widespread immunity.

In Chile, reaction to Straw's move was mixed. Chilean President Eduardo Frei, who was in Brazil for a trade conference, appealed for calm and called on Pinochet's relatives to "not be overtaken by passion." An angry pro-Pinochet protest near the British and Spanish embassies had to be dispersed Wednesday night by police water cannons. An anti-Pinochet march went on peacefully.
©1998 CBS Worldwide Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report