Just hours after a Chilean court declared him unfit for trial on the grounds of deteriorating physical and mental health, former dictator Gen Augusto Pinochet set off for a holiday in Iquiqe, a picturesque town 1,800 kms from his home in Santiago de Chile.
Gen Pinochet spent the past week touring local sites, attending Mass and visiting friends. "You didn't believe that nonsense about him being crazy or demented," said Ms Lucia Hiriart, wife of Gen Pinochet, outraging human right's groups who led a three-year battle to bring the dictator to justice.
Under the Chilean legal code, anyone deemed "insane or demented" can be exempted from trial, an argument successfully used by Gen Pinochet's lawyers to secure their client's freedom.
The Iquique trip drew more negative attention when three youths denounced Gen Pinochet's bodyguards for detaining and beating them as they hunted crabs with an air rifle. The 85-year old former dictator was nowhere near the scene of the incident yet bodyguards claimed they feared an assassination attempt.
The three youths, two of them age under 18, described how they were punched and had guns aimed at their faces even after it was proven the air rifle was harmless. The victims are preparing a case against the State alleging psychological and physical harm, embarrassing the government and army which have urged Gen Pinochet to keep a low profile.
Chilean Defence Minister Ms Michelle Bachelet subsequently advised Gen Pinochet to get more rest and adjust his lifestyle to the terms of the medical resolution which kept him from undergoing trial. The nation's Supreme Court last week agreed that a series of minor strokes rendered him unfit to stand trial.
In the week before judges decided his fate, Gen Pinochet was hospitalised with blood pressure problems, a factor which may have influenced the outcome.
The Chilean armed forces, responsible for Gen Pinochet's bodyguard detail, ordered an investigation into the Iquique events, while local authorities demanded a public apology, which has yet to be proffered. Gen Pinochet has a permanent escort of at least 50 soldiers who have been criticised for running errands for relatives of Mr Pinochet, including grocery shopping.
Relatives of the victims of Mr Pinochet's dictatorship (1973-90) have installed a permanent positon in front of the dictator's luxury apartment, chanting "asesino" (killer) when they catch sight of their target.