LONDON (AP) -- Three High Court judges Wednesday quashed arrest warrants against Gen. Augusto Pinochet, ruling that the former Chilean dictator is entitled to immunity from prosecution.
``The applicant is entitled as a former head of statet to immunity from civil and criminal proceedings of the Englsih court,'' Lord Chief Justice Thomas Bingham said.
Pinochet, 82, will remain in custody pending appeal by a Spanish magistrate.
Dozens of Chilean exiles in court cheered when they heard Pinochet must stay in custody.
``A former head of state is clearly entitled to immunity for criminal acts committed in the course of exercising public functions,'' the judge said.
``I order that both provisional warrants be quashed. We will listen to any argument that will be addressed to us on leave to appeal.''
British police arrested Pinochet's , 82, Oct. 16 in his bed at a London hospital on a warrant from a Spanish magistrate seeking his extradition to face charges of murder, kidnapping and torturing political opponents during his 17-year rule. He underwent back surgery Oct. 9.
Since the arrest, other groups have filed suits seeking to have him tried in Europe.
Four Chilean exiles have asked Britain's Attorney General to make Pinochet stand trial in Britain. Similar filings are being pursued in Switzerland, Sweden and France.
Pinochet stepped down in 1990, but remained commander-in-chief of the army until last March.
Pinochet's lawyers argued that the Spanish warrant was illegal on grounds that former heads of state cannot be prosecuted for actions committed in their ``official capacity'' and because he is not Spanish.
Attorney Alun Jones, representing the Spanish magistrate, countered that murder and torture are not ``something that is in the furtherance of his function as head of state.''
Jones alleged that Pinochet was responsible for up to 4,000 murders, including at least one in the United States, and had sent agents to Spain to kill opponents there.
AP-NY-10-28-98 1035EST
