Pinochet's lawyers argue charges against him illegal

Pinochet's defence attorneys argued Tuesday at the beginning of the appeals hearing that criminal proceedings against their client should be stopped because the 85-year-old suffers from senility that renders him incompetent to stand trial.

They said investigative Judge Juan Guzman did not consider a court-ordered medical report that determined the former general has mild to moderate dementia when Guzman decided to charge Pinochet with encouraging and aiding murders and kidnappings of political opponents in 1973.

Guzman decided January 29 that Pinochet's dementia was not severe enough to stop his trial, calling his "exceptionally normal". Guzman's actions were "political, unconstitutional and illegal", said defence attorney Pablo Rodriguez Grez after Tuesday's hearing. However, a lawyer on the other side of the aisle, Eduardo Contreras, called Rodriguez's statement "low quality" and added that it dealt with issues that had already been examined.

To win their appeal, Pinochet's attorneys must successfully argue that Pinochet suffers from dementia because under Chilean law, only mental deficiencies, and not physical ailments, render a defendant incapable of being tried. Pinochet is under house arrest at his estate outside the capital and is not expected to attend this week's hearing. A decision is expected at the end of the month or the first of March. If Pinochet loses, he has one more avenue for appeal: Chile's Supreme Court.

Guzman wants to try Pinochet in connection with 57 murders and 18 kidnappings committed by the Caravan of Death death squad, which travelled to Chile's prisons and tortured and executed political prisoners immediately after Pinochet came to power in 1973. During his 17-year rule, 3,000 of his opponents were killed.

(la/dpa)