Chilean judge to say Monday when he will question Pinochet

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -- A Chilean judge investigating lawsuits against Augusto Pinochet said Friday that he would announce next week when he planned to interrogate the former dictator about his alleged involvement in human right abuses.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court voted 14-6 to strip the military's father figure of his immunity from prosecution, a shield he held as an unelected senator for life.

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That has opened the door for Judge Juan Guzman to question Pinochet over his alleged involvement in the "Death Caravan," a military helicopter unit that blitzed through Chile in October 1973 in search of leftists, killing at least 72 people. Guzman said he would reveal on Monday his plans for quizzing Pinochet.

The Supreme Court used a lawsuit over the Death Caravan to justify lifting Pinochet's immunity. Guzman is also looking into more than 160 other suits against the former president.

Pinochet came to power in a bloody coup in September 1973 and ruled until 1990. More than 3,000 people died or disappeared because of political violence during his rule.

A spokeswoman for the Pinochet Foundation, which grants military scholarships, said Friday that Pinochet would appear in public Wednesday for a ceremony on the 27th anniversary of his assumption of the title of army commander in chief.

In an apparent bid to improve his image, he is also expected to grant interviews to a television station and a local newspaper and to address the public in September.

Pinochet has been staying at his secluded residence on the outskirts of Santiago but made a rare appearance for the media earlier this month.

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