Lawyers try to free Pinochet

JACK STRAW, the Home Secretary, is today expected to clarify his position on Augusto Pinochet when the former Chilean dictator launches a fresh High Court challenge over his continued detention.

Lawyers for General Pinochet are applying for permission to seek judicial review of what they described as Mr Straw's "fatally flawed" decision in December to authorise extradition proceedings against the 83-year-old.

They are also asking for a writ of habeas corpus to free the general from house arrest in the light of the House of Lords ruling on Wednesday which drastically cut the number of charges on which he could be tried and raised fresh questions over whether he should be extradited as Spain requests.

The law lords held that, while General Pinochet did not have blanket sovereign immunity, he was immune for crimes allegedly committed up to 8 December 1988, when the international torture convention became effective. This cut the 32 original charges against him to just two of conspiracy to torture and one of torture. On Friday, the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon added 32 cases of torture to his extradition petition.

A key question now for Mr Straw is whether he will abandon his position that he has no power to withdraw the authority he issued. General Pinochet's lawyers are expected to argue that he did have an "inherent power" to change his mind in the light of developments.