French court sets date for trial of 15 ex-officials under Chilean dictator Pinochet

France to try ex-officials of Chilean dictatorship

PARIS — A judicial official says 14 former officials in the regime of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet are to be tried in absentia in Paris in December.

The former Chilean officials are to be tried in connection with the disappearance of four French citizens after Pinochet took power in a bloody 1973 coup. They face charges including kidnapping and torture and are the targets of international arrest warrants.

The missing Frenchmen include Georges Klein, the doctor of Marxist President Salvador Allende, whom Pinochet toppled on Sept. 11, 1973.

Originally, the trial had been set for 2008 but was suspended for procedural reasons.

The official was speaking Friday on condition of anonymity, in accordance with French judicial procedure.