Chilean Judge Orders Investigation Into Allende’s Death
SANTIAGO, Chile — A Chilean judge has opened the first official investigation into the death of former President Salvador Allende, the democratically elected Socialist who died during the 1973 military coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
Mr. Allende, 65, was found dead by the military forces that stormed the presidential palace after hours of a gun battle and bombings. At the time, an autopsy suggested that Mr. Allende had killed himself. But many of his supporters have contended for decades that he might have been killed by troops or snipers.
The inquiry is part of new investigations into 726 human rights-related crimes in which the victims or their relatives never filed suit. Judge Sergio Muñoz, who is in charge of coordinating all human rights inquiries, had asked a prosecutor to determine the number of cases in which no investigations had been undertaken and to file legal complaints on behalf of the suspected victims. That included the case of Mr. Allende’s death....
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Mr. Allende, 65, was found dead by the military forces that stormed the presidential palace after hours of a gun battle and bombings. At the time, an autopsy suggested that Mr. Allende had killed himself. But many of his supporters have contended for decades that he might have been killed by troops or snipers.
The inquiry is part of new investigations into 726 human rights-related crimes in which the victims or their relatives never filed suit. Judge Sergio Muñoz, who is in charge of coordinating all human rights inquiries, had asked a prosecutor to determine the number of cases in which no investigations had been undertaken and to file legal complaints on behalf of the suspected victims. That included the case of Mr. Allende’s death....