What is medically wrong with General Pinochet?
The details of the medical report of the four specialists who examined the General on 5 January are confidential. We have been told by doctors who’ve treated him in the past that he has had a series of minor strokes, he has a heart pacemaker fitted, he is suffering from diabetes, is permanently giddy and unsteady on his feet. The independent doctors appointed by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, have concluded that he is both physically and mentally unfit to stand trial and that there is unlikely to be any change in his condition. Why did the Home Secretary Jack Straw announce he was “minded to” decide Gen Pinochet should not be extradited – instead of deciding definitely one way or the other? It is likely to have been so that his final decision, when it comes, cannot be successfully challenged in the courts. If he is open to receiving representations from all interested parties (he has given them seven days to make their views known) and considers their comments before reaching a conclu
