MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Arrest of Pinochet ring: in Chile “no one is above the law”

Family postcard of better times

President Michelle Bachelet called for calm and said “no one is above the law” in Chile following the indictment on Thursday on corruption charges of 23 people related to former dictator General Augusto Pinochet including his widow and five children.

President Bachelet added the police, --and suspects-- acted in an "orderly and quiet manner". Most of the suspects including widow Lucia Hiriart and Pinochet's grown children have already been arrested, reported police director Arturo Herrera. Patricio Walker, president of the Chamber of Deputies underlined that in Chile there are "no first class and second class citizens" and that the indictment "effectively shows institutions work and in consequence courts must proceed quietly and undisturbed, with their responsibilities". Those indicted also included at least four retired army generals, --Jorge Ballerino, Guillermo Garin, Juan Romero and Hector Letelier, --as well as lower-ranking officers, Pinochet's longtime secretary Monica Ananias and one of his lawyers, Ambrosio Rodriguez. Judge Carlos Cerda said he ordered the arrests because of "solid indications that they had participated in the misuse of fiscal funds" during Pinochet's 1973-90 dictatorship. Cerda was to decide whether to keep them in custody or free them to stand trial. Mrs. Pinochet was hospitalized after suffering a minor blood pressure accident. Pinochet died last December at age 91 while under indictment on human rights and corruption charges. The judge's ruling is related to an investigation into the multimillion dollar accounts the former ruler owned at the Riggs Bank in Washington and other foreign banks. According to court papers, some of those accounts may have been fed with funds from the so-called Military House, an office that aided Pinochet's military activities during the dictatorship. Pinochet remained an army commander during his long rule. Cerda put the amount allegedly diverted from the Military House at 7.9 million US dollars. Pinochet and his associates have steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, insisting the sources of the bank accounts were legitimate savings and investments, plus donations Pinochet received. Retired Gen. Guillermo Garin, who was for years Pinochet's spokesman and one of his closest aides, said "I have no responsibility whatsoever in this". President Michelle Bachelet called for calm and said she would "wait for the court's decision with calm. No one in Chile is above the law". Many Chileans are bitter that Pinochet never was sentenced to prison time, unlike many of his subordinates, whom he blamed for the abuses. More than 500 former officers and security agents have been tried and many jailed, including 50 generals, and scores of trials are still pending.