Chile's former dictator, Gen Augusto Pinochet, was yesterday served with an arrest order on murder and kidnapping charges.
Gen Pinochet (85), who ruled the country from 1973 to 1990, faces charges stemming from a 1973 military campaign to wipe out opposition to his rule.
The warrant was delivered to his Los Boldos home in Bucalemu, 120 km south-west of Santiago. Retired Gen Luis Cortes Villa, who heads the Pinochet Foundation group, confirmed that Gen Pinochet had received the arrest order.
"This is the saddest and most painful moment that we can possibly have to live through," he said, speaking to journalists at the residence. Judge Juan Guzman ruled on Monday that Gen Pinochet should be put under house arrest while awaiting trial.
He must answer charges of masterminding the killings and abductions of 75 political prisoners in the first weeks after his rise to power in a September 1973 coup.
Judge Guzman's order reinstated charges filed against Gen Pinochet on December 1st that were overturned on December 20th by Chile's Supreme Court. The high court ruled that Judge Guzman had failed to interrogate Gen Pinochet or have him submit to medical tests.
Medical tests and a brief interrogation were conducted earlier this month. Final results of the medical exam have yet to be made public, however the doctors apparently concluded that Gen Pinochet is suffering from diabetes, heart conditions and "mild to moderate dementia". He was treated in hospital last weekend for a mild stroke.
Gen Pinochet's lawyers had considered filing an appeal to the new arrest order, arguing that his mental state is such that he should not stand trial.
So far they have filed only a written request for a change of venue for his house arrest - from his Santiago home, La Dehesa, to his Los Boldos property on the Chilean coast.
Gen Pinochet faces a total of 217 complaints concerning human rights abuses during his rule, the latest of which were filed on Tuesday.
A Chilean television network reported that Gen Pinochet was "worried but calm" about his arrest and impending trial
"I am aware that my opponents will not rest until they sink me," he reportedly told the network.
Some 2,000 sympathisers gathered at the gates of Los Boldos on Tuesday, shouting repeatedly, "As long as Chile exists, support for Pinochet persists".
Two new lawsuits filed on Tuesday link Gen Pinochet to the 1974 arrest and disappearance of left-wing activist and veterinarian Juan Chacon Olivares and with the execution of human rights activist Enzo Munoz Arevalo by secret police in 1984.