Chile's Supreme Court voted by 10-5 on Friday to strip former leader General Augusto Pinochet of his presidential immunity for the second time.

The Supreme Court has been debating the topic since March 31, when Investigating Judge Victor Montiglio made a request for the second removal of immunity, a step which will enable the former dictator to be put on trial for the kidnapping of 37 dissidents during his long regime.

The kidnapping was part of the Operation Colombo, which organized by Pinochet to cover up the murder of 119 opposition activists, which took place in neighboring Argentina in 1975.

The operation came to light on July 22, 1975, when a one-off Argentinian magazine Lea (Read) reported that 60 Chilean "extremists" had been murdered by their fellow Chileans.

On July 24, 1975, another one-off publication, the newspaper O Novo Dia (The New Day), from Curitiba, a city in southeast Brazil, said that another 59 Chileans had been killed in clashes with guerrillas in the Argentine province of Salta.

In spite of Friday's ruling, however, there is no guarantee Pinochet will finally face trial. Chilean courts have three times dropped charges against him for health reasons.

Besides the human rights cases, Pinochet is under indictment on corruption and tax-evasion charges.

Source: Xinhua