-Caveat Lector- >From Irish Times WORLDThursday, January 7, 1999<Picture><Picture> President Castro: three lawsuits filed against him Pinochet case creates precedent for other regimes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By Lara Marlowe in Paris France: The century is ending badly for dictators. Gen Augusto Pinochet was arrested in Britain last October, where he still awaits a final decision on Spanish, French and other extradition requests. The Pinochet example yesterday inspired the French lawyer, Mr Serge Lewisch, to file three lawsuits against the Cuban President, Dr Fidel Castro, for crimes against humanity, murder, torture, illegal detention and drug-trafficking. Two of Mr Lewisch's clients are Cuban and one is French. The French man, Mr Pierre Golendorff (77), a photographer, was imprisoned in Cuba from 1971 until 1975 for writing a book critical of Dr Castro's regime. Mr Lazaro Jordana (41) also spent four years in Cuban jails, from 1982 until 1986, as a political prisoner. Mr Jordana lives in exile in France and claims he was held in solitary confinement without light for seven months. Ms Ileana de la Guardia, the daughter of Antonio de la Guardia, a Cuban army officer who was executed by firing squad in 1989 in a drug-trafficking scandal, is the third plaintiff. The lawsuits have been filed with Paris's senior investigating magistrate, who must now decide whether there are grounds for prosecution and an international arrest warrant against Dr Castro. Mr Lewisch admitted that the Chilean and Cuban regimes were dissimilar. "The torture is of a different nature," he told France Info radio station. "Pinochet is considered a butcher, and I think the term is apt considering the kind of torture he inflicted on hundreds or thousands of Chileans at the time. "Whereas with Castro, the torture was more psychological - imprisoning people in conditions of terrible moral and psychological pressure to force them to confess to the crimes they were accused of, even when they were innocent." Mr Lewisch said he intends to file further lawsuits against Dr Castro on behalf of other victims. Two months ago, a Spanish court threw out a case filed by other Cuban exiles against Dr Castro, his brother Raul and Cuban officials whom they accused of genocide, terrorism and torture. Encouraged by Gen Pinochet's arrest, human rights lawyers made a failed attempt to have Mr LaurentDesire Kabila, the ruler of the former Zaire, arrested for crimes against humanity during the Franco-African summit last November. Haitian exiles in France have also initiated legal action against the former dictator, Mr JeanClaude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The French foreign ministry has summoned Haiti's ambassador to explain an Independence Day speech in which President Rene Preval of Haiti blamed his country's poverty on French colonialism, the French envoy to Port-auPrince said. - (Reuters) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Front | Ireland | Finance | World | Sport | Opinion | Features | Letters Crosaire | Simplex | Dublin Live | Back Issues | Contacts | Feedback | History ------------------------------------------------------------------------ � Copyright: The Irish Times Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~ >From Associated Press Tuesday January 5 6:43 PM ET Pinochet Defense Fund Mounted By EDUARDO GALLARDO Associated Press Writer SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Supporters of Gen. Augusto Pinochet opened donation hotlines and hawked copies of a tribute song to Chile's former dictator Tuesday, to help pay for his mounting legal bills. Pinochet has been held under police guard in London since Oct. 16, fighting Spanish efforts to bring him to trial for human rights abuses stemming from his 1973-90 dictatorship. The private Pinochet Foundation said its new campaign sought to ensure the ``best possible legal defense for the general.'' It had already raised $360,000, but foundation president Luis Cortes said that wasn't enough. Reports published here say British lawyers have already cost Pinochet about $1.1 million. Pinochet's wife, Lucia Hiriart, said in an interview with a Chilean newspaper last month that the family expected financial troubles as result of the case. Most of the donations have come from private businessmen, believed to be covering part of Pinochet's rent in a mansion west of London where he is under police custody. The campaign features a compact disc selling for about $30 with a song honoring Pinochet by well-known Chilean composer Willy Bascunan. The song is written from Pinochet's perspective, describing his anguish at being kept away from his home country: ``I miss the trumpet ... with its reveille. But today, when I wake up, it's a different reality. I am in a foreign land.'' Four automated telephone lines take different levels of donations, from roughly $4 to $20. ``Many thanks for cooperating in the defense of Gen. Pinochet,'' a recorded message says. Last month, Britain's highest court, which initially denied Pinochet's request for immunity from arrest as a former head of state, set aside its own ruling after it was revealed that one of the judges in the case had failed to disclose his ties with Amnesty International, which played a key role in the campaign to have Pinochet charged. Britain's House of Lords has set a new hearing for Pinochet on Jan. 18. A Chilean government report says 3,197 people were killed or disappeared at the hands of the secret police after Pinochet overthrew Salvador Allende, an elected Marxist. 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