Pinochet Goes to Estate After Hospital Demands His Ouster

Under heavy police guard, Gen. Augusto Pinochet was spirited out of a London hospital on Tuesday and driven to a country estate to await a government decision on whether to extradite him.

An ambulance carrying the former Chilean dictator swept through the gates of Grovelands Priory as demonstrators shook their fists and chanted “We want justice!”

The psychiatric hospital where Pinochet was staying announced Monday that the 83-year-old former dictator, wanted for questioning in Spain on charges of genocide and torture, no longer needs medical care and demanded that he leave.

Pinochet reportedly was distressed by the hospital’s demand that he leave. The general had planned to move on Monday, but the arrangement fell through because of “unforeseen practical difficulties,” lawyer Michael Caplan said.

An hour after it left the hospital, a white ambulance with blacked-out windows arrived at Wentworth estate in Surrey, 20 miles west of central London. Dozens of police took up positions at roads leading to the grounds. It was not immediately clear who owns the home where Pinochet is staying.

If British Home Secretary Jack Straw allows extradition proceedings to begin, Pinochet will probably be in Britain for months fighting his case through the courts. Straw, who must rule by Dec. 11, could block extradition on several grounds, including compassion.

“He showed no compassion for us, so why should we show any for him?” asked Francina Ramirez, 41, a Chilean exile who was protesting outside the hospital. She said she was arrested by Pinochet’s secret police and tortured.

In Washington, the State Department announced Tuesday that the United States will declassify and release documents relating to human rights abuses during Pinochet’s rule.

A Chilean government report says 3,197 people were killed or disappeared at the hands of the secret police from 1973 to 1990 under Pinochet. But Chile is trying to win Pinochet’s return because of fears that the anger of his supporters might destabilize the nation’s democracy.

Chilean Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Insulza was in Spain on Tuesday, arguing that Pinochet might be tried in Chile if he is freed.