Chile's Supreme Court has stripped former dictator Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution for abuses at a detention center where current President Michelle Bachelet and her mother were tortured during his rule.
Officials say 59 torture victims from the notorious Villa Grimaldi were named in the charge that appeared before the court, but that President Bachelet and her mother were not among them.
The 90-year-old Pinochet has already been charged with tax fraud and other human rights violations committed during his rule. The former dictator has never been prosecuted because his attorneys have successfully argued that he is physically and mentally unfit to stand trial.
Under Chilean law, former presidents are automatically granted immunity from prosecution. Immunity must be lifted on a case-by-case basis.
More than 3,000 people died or disappeared during General Pinochet's 1973 to 1990 rule.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.