SANTIAGO, Chile — A court of appeals on Tuesday blocked the house arrest of Gen. Augusto Pinochet until it decides whether to uphold or repeal the former dictator's indictment on homicide and kidnapping charges.
The three-member panel is scheduled to meet Wednesday or Thursday to rule on the indictment issued last Friday by judge Juan Guzman.
"This is an important decision that allows us to calmly prepare to state our case in court tomorrow," said Ambrosio Rodriguez, a member of the embattled general's legal team.
Guzman indicted Pinochet, 85, holding him responsible for the actions by the "Caravan of Death," a military party that killed 73 political prisoners shortly after the 1973 coup in which Pinochet ousted Marxist President Salvador Allende.
Pinochet was charged with homicide for 55 victims whose bodies were recovered and kidnapping for 18 who remain unaccounted for.
The court panel also blocked actions related to the indictment, including a prohibition on Pinochet traveling abroad.
Pinochet remained at his heavily guarded countryside house 80 miles southwest of Santiago, where he was last seen attending Mass on Sunday with relatives and friends at a private chapel next to the house.
Guzman, meanwhile, was preparing a response to the court's demand that he explain his reasons for issuing the indictment, after Pinochet's lawyers accused him of "irregular and arbitrary" actions.
The lawyers said Guzman indicted Pinochet and ordered his house arrest Friday without first questioning him as mandated by law.
Guzman has insisted he has acted according to the law.
In his indictment, Guzman stated that he sent two written questionnaires to Pinochet while he was under house arrest in London until last March, and both were answered.
He said he considered those written questionnaires the mandatory questioning, an argument rejected by Pinochet's defense.
The defense also protested that Guzman indicted Pinochet without first permitting the mental and neurological tests he had ordered Pinochet to undergo to determine his fitness to stand trial.
The court also asked Guzman to explain why he sent a letter of support to Clara Szczaranski, a state prosecutor who was a plaintiff against Pinochet when he was stripped of his congressional immunity. Szczaranski has been criticized by Pinochet supporters in Congress.
Rodriguez said Tuesday that the defense will take its complaints against Guzman before the Supreme Court.