(5 Dec 1998) Spanish/Nat
More than a hundred protesters have gathered for the first organised demonstration at the estate where former dictator Augusto Pinochet is staying.
Waving flags and beating drums, members of the exiled Chilean community lined the street outside of the exclusive residential estate to press for Pinochet's extradition.
They hope to place pressure on British Home Secretary Jack Straw ahead of his decision on December 11 on whether to extradite Pinochet to Spain.
In the early afternoon protesters gathered in front of the Wentworth estate where former military leader Augusto Pinochet is staying under police custody.
They chanted slogans including 'the only decision is extradition', hoping to place pressure on U-K Home Secretary Jack Straw to extradite the general to Spain.
Vicente Alegria, who organised the event, says that Pinochet must be extradited to Spain.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"It is very difficult the decision and it can go either way, naturally we hope the decision will be favorable to us, and that General Pinochet will be taken to justice in Spain and that he faces trial. Of course, we hope that it is a fair trial, and that he is treated in a humane way. We don't want him to be treated as badly as we were treated because we are democrats. But we want him to face justice."
SUPER CAPTION:Vicente Alegria, National Organisation of Chilean Exiles UK
Police kept a close eye on the demonstration in this exclusive residential neighborhood about 40 miles out of London.
Many of those gathered form part of the Chilean exile community in Britain.
Jorge Vial, a former captain in the Chilean Airforce who was put in prison for three years after the coup, says what Pinochet did in Chile is inexcusable.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
" I think it is impossible to justify the death of even one person to obtain any objective and what happened in Chile is terrible, and unfortunately I must admit that I am ashamed of the part the Chilean military played in what happened as a result of the military coup."
SUPER CAPTION: Jorge Vial, ex-captain in the Chilean Airforce
A busload of sixty protesters arrived in the late afternoon from London.
By nightfall over a hundred were demonstrating in front of the Wentworth estate.
Pinochet was arrested in London on October 16 on a warrant from Spain charging him with responsibility in the deaths or disappearance of over three-thousand people during his rule.
The five Law Lords, who together form Britain's highest court, ruled in November that Pinochet does not have immunity from arrest, meaning that he must remain in custody while Spain seeks his extradition for killings and torture by his security forces.
The British Home Secretary, Jack Straw, is to give his decision by December 11 on whether Augusto Pinochet will be extradited to Spain.
One protester, wearing a mask of General Pinochet, pretended he was hitchhiking to Spain.
Protesters here promise they will not stop campaigning until the former dictator is extradited.
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