January 25, 2000
Web posted at: 9:06 p.m. EST (0206 GMT)

In this story: Formal hearing could take place next week Lawyer says Belgium wants The Hague to hear case Chile 'surprised' at latest Belgian move RELATED STORIES, SITES

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- Britain's High Court on Wednesday will consider the latest legal challenge in the case of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

Belgium and six human rights groups filed petitions Tuesday with the court, seeking judicial review of the medical advice that led British Home Secretary Jack Straw to say he was inclined to let Pinochet return to Chile due to ill health.

Pinochet, 84, has been under house arrest near London since October 1998, fighting a Spanish judge's attempts to extradite him on charges of torturing political opponents during his 1973-90 rule.

Belgium and the other petitioners -- who oppose Pinochet's return to Chile because they want him to stand trial -- have complained about Straw's refusal to release the medical report on Pinochet due to patient confidentiality.

VIDEO CNN's Margaret Lowrie reports that human rights groups have gone to court to fight the former dictator's return to Chile. Windows Media 28K 80K   MESSAGE BOARD Pinochet ruling   INTERACTIVE MAP Human Rights Watch report

Formal hearing could take place next week

The human rights groups, including Amnesty International, plan to argue that Pinochet's medical examination was not exhaustive enough to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial. The results, they say, were questionable since only two of the four doctors who examined Pinochet understood Spanish.

If the High Court on Wednesday accepts the groups' petitions, a formal hearing will take place next week. Straw has said he would defer a final ruling on the ex-Chilean dictator's extradition until the judicial review of his decision is complete.

Belgium officials said Tuesday they will defer any further steps to prevent Pinochet's release until the High Court issues a decision on the medical review.

Lawyer says Belgium wants The Hague to hear case

A Belgian lawyer, who represents six Chilean plaintiffs and has been a force behind Belgian demands to have Pinochet's medical condition clarified, said he believes his government is preparing to take the case to The International Court of Justice in The Hague.

"We have to get from The Hague a decision suspending all repatriation, all departure ... of Pinochet," lawyer Georges-Henri Beauthier said.

"This is what the government of Belgium, according to my understanding and the information that I have, is preparing," he added. "Now it just needs the political decision to be taken."

But a Belgian official denied Tuesday that taking Britain to The Hague was an imminent option.

Michel Malherb, a Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said such a move would require a major political decision by the Belgian government.

"From the political point of view, it's a considerable step, because it would mean there's a conflict between two states ... At this stage we are at the legal stage, not the government-to-government stage," he said. "It doesn't seem to be an option at this time."

Chile 'surprised' at latest Belgian move

The Chilean government said Tuesday it was surprised at the Belgian bid to force a new court hearing to prevent Pinochet's release.

"What has surprised us is the Belgian thing," government spokesman Carlos Mladinic told a news conference in Santiago.

Mladinic said he sees the extradition case dragging on if the British court agrees to the Belgian request.

Chile has taken the position that its courts are the best place to prosecute crimes committed on Chilean soil. A crusading judge is investigating more than 50 cases filed against Pinochet in Chile. But no concrete charges have been filed against him as yet.

More than 3,000 people died or disappeared while Pinochet ruled Chile after ousting Socialist President Salvador Allende in a bloody coup in 1973.

CNN Correspondent Margaret Lowrie and Reuters contributed to this report.

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