AUGUSTO PINOCHET, the 90-year-old former Chilean dictator, will be arrested on Monday for crimes committed at a secret detention centre during his rule in the 1970s.

Judge Alejandro Solis ordered the arrest in relation to his investigation into one murder, 36 kidnappings and 23 cases of torture at Villa Grimaldi, a secret police prison that became one of the most notorious torture centres in Chile during the military’s “dirty war” against leftwing opponents. The judge has ordered that General Pinochet be detained under house arrest.

The former military leader denies all responsibility, saying that he had no knowledge of torture taking place at Villa Grimaldi. The prosecution will be the first time that the former general will face trial for torture.

General Pinochet seized power in a coup in 1973, when he overthrew the world’s first democratically elected communist leader, Salvador Allende. He swiftly instigated a campaign of terror against leftwing opponents. Tens of thousands were tortured and 3,000 were killed or disappeared.

Among those detained in the Villa Grimaldi were Chile’s president, Michelle Bachelet, and her mother.

General Pinochet left office in 1990 after losing a vote on extending his term. He remained head of the army until 1998, when he became a senator for life, entitling him to immunity from prosecution.

He was first arrested on human rights abuses with a Spanish warrant while visiting London in 1998 for medical treatment. Jack Straw, then the Home Secretary, declared the former dictator unfit to stand trial on medical grounds and he was allowed to return to Chile in March 2000.

Since his return to his homeland, General Pinochet has fought to avoid trial for human rights abuses. The country’s Supreme Court stripped him of his parliamentary immunity in 2002. His lawyers have since argued that he is unfit to stand trial as the result of mild dementia.

In a series of rulings since then judges have ruled him fit enough to answer charges, culminating in a ruling in September to allow prosecution in the Villa Grimaldi case to proceed.

For many of his countrymen, General Pinochet is a hero. His supporters credit his Administration’s economic shock therapy for laying the foundations for Chile’s sustained high growth rate since he left office.

Yet his image as an honest soldier who saved his country has been badly damaged since revelations in 2004 that the former general had secret foreign bank accounts containing millions of dollars. He was charged and held under house arrest for fraud last year. In August the Supreme Court ruled that he could be prosecuted. His wife and several other members of his family have also been charged.

In testimony sent to a Chilean judge, the dictator’s former intelligence chief said that the money came from a massive cocaine-smuggling operation run by the Pinochet family while in power. General Pinochet denies the accusations.

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