Former dictator loses immunity in new case

? Chile’s Supreme Court on Friday stripped former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution for alleged abuses at one of his regime’s most notorious detention centers – where the current president and her mother were tortured – a court official said.

The case, which involves 59 cases of torture and kidnapping at Villa Grimaldi, is the first time torture has been specifically mentioned in one of the numerous legal cases brought against the 90-year-old former dictator.

A court official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told the Associated Press that an announcement will not be made until Monday or Tuesday but a vote took place and the immunity was lifted.

The decision, which cannot be appealed, paves the way for the judge handling the case to indict Pinochet in the Villa Grimaldi case. Villa Grimaldi was used by Pinochet’s secret police for torture and even executions, according to court documents.