Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was put under house arrest today for crimes including torture, murder and kidnapping in the years that followed his 1973 coup, an investigating judge has said.
Pinochet , 90, was placed under arrest for charges involving rights abuses at Villa Grimaldi, an infamous detention center run by the regime's secret police where thousands were tortured between 1974 and 1977.
"Augusto Pinochet ... has been arrested as a danger to society given the grave charges against him. But due to his age, he is 90, he has been granted house arrest," said Judge Alejandro Solis, who ordered the detention.
Some 3,000 people were killed and another 28,000 were tortured during Chile's 1973-1990 dictatorship.