Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet lost his immunity from prosecution in one human rights case today, while he won bail in a separate ruling on another rights case.
An appeals court stripped Pinochet of immunity - a privilege of former presidents - in relation to the kidnap and disappearance of a Spanish priest in 1974, the court president said.
The priest, Antonio Llido, who belonged to a dissident group opposed to Pinochet's regime, disappeared after being arrested by agents of Chile's DINA, the dictatorship's most oppressive police unit.
Llido's body has never been found and he is presumed dead. Pinochet has lost his immunity from prosecution - a privilege of former presidents - in several other human rights cases. Chile's courts must decide whether to grant him immunity on a case-by-case basis.
The ruling put additional legal pressure on Pinochet, 90, a week after he was put under house arrest for crimes including torture, murder and kidnapping at Villa Grimaldi, an infamous detention center run by the regime's secret police.
However, an appeals court on Wednesday released Pinochet on bail, set at 500,000 pesos, or just under $1,000, according to court sources. Thousands were tortured at Villa Grimaldi between 1974 and 1977, including Michelle Bachelet, Chile's current president.
Pinochet has been arrested five times since 1998 as courts investigated human rights cases against him. He has also been charged with tax fraud and is under investigation for embezzlement. Each time he was arrested he was released on grounds of poor health, or because bail was granted.