The former Chilean dictator Gen Augusto Pinochet was yesterday granted conditional bail by the High Court in London.
However, Judge Stephen Richards said the 82-year-old general must remain in the north London Grovelands hospital where he has been under arrest and must be under police guard at all times.
Gen Pinochet, who was moved on Thursday from a central London clinic to Grovelands, is wanted by a Spanish judge on charges of genocide and torture.
The former dictator won a major legal victory on Wednesday when the High Court said his former position as head of state gave him immunity from prosecution. The ruling will next week be appealed to the House of Lords.
Yesterday in Madrid an appeals court cleared the way for Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, who ordered the former Chilean dictator's arrest, enabling him to press ahead with his efforts to prosecute Gen Pinochet.
Eleven of Judge Garzon's fellow High Court judges, acting as an appeals panel, unanimously rejected a challenge by state prosecutors who said he had no right to investigate atrocities committed under Latin America's former military dictatorships.
The announcement brought tears of joy and shouts of "Long live justice!" from dozens of anti-Pinochet protesters assembled at the Madrid courthouse.
"The ruling is that Spain has jurisdiction to investigate these events, both in Chile and Argentina," a court spokesman said.
Judge Garzon - who has rocked the international community with his pursuit of Gen Pinochet - has been preparing a formal extradition request which is expected to be ready by next week. It must be approved by Spain's cabinet before going through diplomatic channels to Britain. A Spanish government spokesman reaffirmed the cabinet's pledge to respect the decisions made by judicial authorities.
A French state prosecutor yesterday opened a judicial inquiry in Paris against Gen Pinochet. The inquiry is into an allegation of kidnapping, one of several charges which at least five Franco-Chilean families have levelled against Pinochet since his recent arrest in Britain.
The five families have lodged suits with Paris law courts demanding that the former Chilean dictator be extradited to France on a variety of charges including murder and genocide.
The Justice Minister, Ms Elisa beth Guigou, has said she believes Gen Pinochet has a case to answer in France, and will pass on extradition requests to Britain if they are approved by French courts.