The Arrest: 4. The Warrant

Summary

The History Podcast – "The Arrest: 4. The Warrant"

BBC Radio 4 | December 4, 2025
Host: Philippe Sands
Featured Guests: Judge Baltazar Garzon, Nicholas Evans

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Overview

In this episode of "The History Podcast," Philippe Sands narrates the dramatic and frantic legal maneuvers on Friday, October 16, 1998, that led to the arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The episode brings listeners inside the last-minute efforts of Spanish Judge Baltazar Garzon and the subsequent critical decisions made by UK duty magistrate Nicholas Evans, in one of the most significant cases in international justice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Urgency to Act Before Pinochet's Departure

• Timing and Stakes: Judge Garzon receives word that Pinochet is preparing to fly back to Chile the next morning, with the court closing in less than an hour ([01:28]-[02:03]).
  • "It's a quarter to two on the afternoon of Friday 16th October 1998, and he has just been told by fax that Augusto Pinochet is preparing to leave London" — Philippe Sands [01:28]

2. Obstacles in the Court

• Locked Files and Empty Office: Most staff have left for the weekend. The critical "Operation Condor" file is inaccessible because the responsible employee has already gone ([02:43]-[03:11]).

  • “I can't because the filing cabinet is locked and the employee who normally looks after it was gone.” — Judge Garzon [02:43]

• Moment of Doubt and Decision: Garzon contemplates the impossibility of the task but feels the responsibility to act.

  • "I put my hands on my head, and I said, well, what do I do now? The normal one was to leave... Pinochet would fly back to Chile and the total immunity he enjoyed there, the opportunity to question him would be gone." — Judge Garzon & Philippe Sands [03:11]-[03:39]

3. The Decision to Issue the Warrant

• Garzon's Resolve: Despite immense risks, Garzon commits to issuing the warrant.
  • “All of a sudden, and it was like that all the victims were represented... I had the possibility of trying at least to detain Pinochet. And then I said, well, I issue an arrest warrant.” — Judge Garzon [03:57]
  • “It was crazy, but I thought the only alternative is to write an arrest.” — Judge Garzon [04:24]
  • “It was a leap into the void…” — Judge Garzon [04:54]

4. Crafting the Arrest Warrant

• Working from Memory: With key documents locked away, Garzon writes from memory, ensuring he wouldn’t regret not trying ([06:03]-[06:19]).

  • "Then, from memory, I start writing..." — Judge Garzon [06:03]

• Detail and Evidence: Garzon lists victims and cites a 1991 human rights abuses report, including Spanish UN worker Carmelo Soria ([06:19]-[06:59]).

• Collaboration with Assistant: The clerk types up the warrant under pressure ([07:05]-[07:29]).

  • “‘Don Baltazar, do you know what you’re doing? Are you sure?’ I say, ‘You shut up and write.’” — Judge Garzon [07:17]

• Evading Bureaucratic Obstacles: The required prosecutor’s signature is unattainable as the office has closed; Garzon documents efforts to comply ([08:19]-[08:37]).

5. Transmission to London and UK Response

• Arrival at Scotland Yard: The warrant arrives after UK courts have closed, so the police turn to duty magistrate Nicholas Evans ([09:19]-[09:41]).

• Nicholas Evans' Perspective: Evans, unfamiliar with the detailed history but aware of the urgency, begins researching Pinochet's case ([10:08]-[10:22]).

  • “I obviously I'd heard the name Pinochet, but I didn't really have a very clear understanding about any of the history..." — Nicholas Evans [10:08]

6. The Legal Challenge: Framing an Extradition Offence

• Dual Criminality: The extradition request must cite a crime recognized in both Spain and the UK ([11:44]-[11:55]).
• Struggles with Charges: Torture and genocide are complicated; Evans opts for “murder” as the most straightforward charge that fulfills legal requirements ([11:55]-[13:39]).
  • "This was the very first time I'd ever, ever come across torture as a potential crime... burglary, theft, murder, I can cope with those, but this is just a different thing." — Nicholas Evans [11:55]

7. The Final Act: Authorizing the Arrest

• Evans Signs the Warrant: The authorization is dated and signed, clearing London police to arrest Pinochet before his flight ([14:21]-[14:29]).
  • “With this document, the police in London are now authorised to arrest Augusto Pinochet, Chile's former president. But they will have to act quickly.” — Philippe Sands [14:29]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Taking a Stand:

  • “I know myself, and I knew that in my life I would never forgive myself for not having tried that action.” — Judge Garzon [06:03]

• On Pressure and Duty:

  • “‘Don Baltazar, do you know what you’re doing? Are you sure?’ I say, ‘You shut up and write.’” — Judge Garzon [07:17]

• On Legal Risk:

  • “The most likely thing was that it would be a failure and the attacks on me would have been ferocious. It was a leap into the void in the sense that Pinochet is not just anybody.” — Judge Garzon [04:54]

• On Facing the Unfamiliar:

  • "Burglary, theft, murder, I can cope with those, but this is just a different thing." — Nicholas Evans [11:55]

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Key Timestamps

• [01:28] — Garzon learns of Pinochet’s imminent departure.
• [03:11] — Garzon faces the decision point: act or let Pinochet go.
• [03:57] — Garzon resolves to issue the arrest warrant.
• [06:03] — Garzon starts writing from memory.
• [07:05] — Collaboration and urgency with Garzon’s clerk.
• [08:37] — Procedural workaround with the missing chief prosecutor.
• [09:41] — Nicholas Evans is introduced as the duty magistrate.
• [10:08] — Evans learns about the case and stakes.
• [11:55] — Framing a legally valid extradition offence.
• [14:21] — Evans signs the warrant, authorizing Pinochet’s arrest.

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Tone and Language

The tone of this episode is urgent, tense, and reflective—with Judge Garzon and Nicholas Evans candidly recounting the immense pressure and moral adversity of their respective decisions. Philippe Sands’ narration imbues the episode with gravity, emphasizing both the procedural hurdles and the stakes for international justice.

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This summary captures the pivotal countdown to one of international law’s landmark moments, spotlighting the human decisions behind legal history.

Transcript

[Philippe Sands]

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[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

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[Ray Winstone]

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[Philippe Sands]

Over the course of his life, Spanish judge Baltazar Garzon has learned that sometimes you need to think fast and act even faster.

This is one of those moments.

It's a quarter to two on the afternoon of Friday 16th October 1998, and he has just been told by fax that Augusto Pinochet is preparing to leave London to fly back to Chile tomorrow. The National Court where the judge works will close in an hour at 3 o' clock and it has already begun emptying out for the weekend. The only colleague left is his assistant clerk and he too wants to go home.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

At that moment I thought for a moment and the first thing that came to my mind was that it was 2 o' clock already. So I left my office and said to him, don't go anywhere, I may have to make this decision. And I remember he told me, he says, I'm always the last one here.

So I ask him to give me the Operation Condor file.

[Philippe Sands]

Operation Condor, the alliance of South American dictatorships, including Pinochet's, that sought to eliminate political opponents in the 1970s and 80s.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

So I ask him to bring me the dossier and he says to me, I can't because the filing cabinet is locked and the employee who normally looks after it was gone.

[Philippe Sands]

The judge returns to his office. He shuts the door, he sits down. As he tells me about that Friday afternoon, I sense the conflicting impulses he felt in that moment.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

Well, I don't know. I put My hands on my head, and I said, well, what do I do now? The options were. The normal one was to leave. It was impossible to hold him. I couldn't make any moves on the weekend. Everything was closed. Second option, contact Scotland Yard to say thank you, as it is impossible to get there. Well, that's it.

[Philippe Sands]

Pinochet would fly back to Chile and the total immunity he enjoyed there, the opportunity to question him would be gone. That is not a scenario that Judge Garzon feels he can accept.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

But I started to think a little, and the truth is that I didn't doubt it. I didn't doubt it at all. Because all of a sudden, and it was like that all the victims were represented of the Argentine dictatorship, of the Pinochet dictatorship. I had the possibility of trying at least to detain Pinochet. And then I said, well, I issue an arrest warrant.

It was crazy, but I thought the only alternative is to write an arrest.

[Nicholas Evans]

Warrant.

[Philippe Sands]

On the spur of the moment. There and then he decides he will issue a warrant for the arrest of Augusta Pinochet, send it to Scotland Yard, and ask the British authorities to extradite Pinochet to stand trial in Spain for international crimes.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

The most likely thing was that it would be a failure and the attacks on me would have been ferocious. It was a leap into the void in the sense that Pinochet is not just anybody.

[Philippe Sands]

I'm Philippe Sands, and from Radio 4 and the History Podcast, this is the Arrest, the inside story of the race to apprehend Augusto Pinochet and bring him to justice.

Episode 4 the Warrant.

To write an arrest warrant is no simple matter. It's a legal document that will have to persuade the British authorities. And in a case as sensitive and complex as this one, with so many victims over so many years and such serious crimes, it has to be done right. But there's still the problem of the documents and the case file locked away somewhere in the National Court building. And the clerk with the keys has already left for the weekend. Where to begin?

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

I know myself, and I knew that in my life I would never forgive myself for not having tried that action. Then, from memory, I start writing by.

[Philippe Sands]

Hand or typing out by hand.

As president, the judge writes, Pinochet was directly involved in the elimination, disappearance, kidnapping and torture of thousands of people. He writes the names of more than 100 victims, relying on a detailed report of the dictatorship's human rights abuses. Published in 1991, a year after Pinochet had stepped down as president, the report included the name Carmelo Soria The Spanish UN worker whose mutilated body was found in a canal in Santiago in July 1976.

By now we're what? By now we're 3 o' clock on Friday the 16th.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

We're at about 2:30, and I give it to the clerk so he can write it out on the computer.

[Philippe Sands]

Judge Garzon's assistant goes off to type up the document.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

He comes in and says to me, don Baltazar, do you know what you're doing? Are you sure? I say, you shut up and write.

[Philippe Sands]

Judge Garzon's assistant clerk makes his way along the empty corridors of Spain's National Court. He has the arrest warrant and the extradition request. The judge has signed it and had it stamped by the court registrar. But there is one more procedural hurdle.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

So we had a problem that the prosecutor had to be notified by law of any such action.

[Philippe Sands]

The judge is referring to the chief prosecutor of the National Court, who has to sign off on the arrest warrant before it can be sent to London. And it's highly unlikely that he'll do so, as he's long been opposed to any case against Pinochet. The judge has to find a way around the problem.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

At 2:30, people were already leaving and it was Friday. But formally closing time is at three, so I was waiting for it to get to two minutes to three and I sent the officer to the door of the Attorney General's office.

[Philippe Sands]

The clerk knocks on the chief prosecutor's door. It is just before 3 o'. Clock. There's no answer. When the clerk returns with the news, Judge Garzon asks the court registrar to make a note that he has tried to obtain the chief prosecutor's authorization as required, but hasn't been able to reach him.

And so, a little over an hour and a half after the message that Pinochet would be flying back to Chile within hours, a warrant for his arrest has been written, signed, fed into a fax machine and is making its way to London.

By the time the warrant arrives at Scotland Yard, it's too late for it to be authorised by a magistrate in a regular court. The courts have all closed for the day, so instead it will have to go to the on call duty magistrate. That Friday evening. The duty magistrate is Nicholas Evans.

It's a little after 8 o' clock when the doorbell rings at his home, a tall terraced house in North London overlooking Hampstead Heath, just across from the home of the spy writer John Le Carre. The magistrate has been expecting this visit. About an hour earlier, he'd received a Phone call from Scotland Yard alerting him that an urgent request had arrived from Madrid.

[Nicholas Evans]

And I obviously I'd heard the name Pinochet, but I didn't really have a very clear understanding about any of the history or precisely what was involved. So I went in fact onto my computer.

Read up a bit about it.

[Philippe Sands]

And by now he also has an idea of the urgency.

[Nicholas Evans]

I think I was told he had filed a flight plan on a private jet to leave at 6:30 in the morning.

[Philippe Sands]

The next morning.

[Nicholas Evans]

The next morning.

[Philippe Sands]

Tall and well built, with a mop of grey hair and a ruddy complexion, Nicholas Evans speaks softly as he recalls the extraordinary events of that evening. His hands are clasped across his chest as he sits on a comfortable red sofa in his living room. Come office to me. He gives his only interview about his role in the story because he happens to be my next door neighbor.

When the magistrate opens the front door of his house that Friday evening, four police officers are standing there. One of them hands over Garzon's extradition request. Together with a draft arrest warrant and a document called an information. This sets out the basic facts of the case and the possible charges.

[Nicholas Evans]

I think there was quite a lot in it because it was giving quite a lot of history of the accusations against him and it was talking about murders of thousands and torture.

As the judge, I was required to frame an extradition offence.

[Philippe Sands]

The charge for Pinochet to be arrested and extradited, the act of which he's accused must be a crime in both Spain and the United Kingdom.

[Nicholas Evans]

Usually it's very straightforward and there was a bit of discussion between us and I knew nothing about torture. It was the very first time I'd ever, ever come across torture as a potential crime. Burglary, theft, murder, I can cope with those, but this is just a different thing.

[Philippe Sands]

So torture is off the table. But regardless of the offences listed, could Pinochet actually be charged with anything?

A head of state benefits from a blanket immunity from foreign prosecution. And it was widely assumed that, that that immunity extended also to a former head of state. The rationale behind this is that a head of state can hardly represent their country on the world stage if they are constantly at risk of arrest for official conduct. In the case of Augusto Pinochet, he was no longer president of Chile, but the crimes, the international crimes, were all said to have occurred while he was Chile's head of state and acting as such. And did you have any thoughts on the question of whether a former head of state, as opposed to a serving head of state, could claim.

[Nicholas Evans]

Well, I think I just simplistically thought that he was no longer head of state and therefore he wouldn't have immunity or whether he did or didn't. This was an argument that could be had later.

[Philippe Sands]

Nicholas Evans spends about an hour with the police officers that evening thinking about possible charges. In the end, the magistrate crosses out genocide and torture and disappearances.

[Nicholas Evans]

All I needed was one extradition offence that would satisfy the requirement to get him arrested. So I plumped for murder because I thought it was quite straightforward.

[Philippe Sands]

The magistrate writes that Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, between 11 September 1973 and 31 December 1983, within the jurisdiction of the 5th Central Magistrates Court of the National Court of Madrid, did murder Spanish citizens in Chile, within the jurisdiction of the government of Spain.

Evans then adds the date 16 October 1998, and he signs the document.

He then hands it to the police officers. With this document, the police in London are now authorised to arrest Augusto Pinochet, Chile's former president. But they will have to act quickly.

Listen to the whole series right now, first on BBC Sounds.

[Judge Baltazar Garzon]

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And that was the first time that anybody ever ran a car up that fast with no tires on. It almost feels like your eyeballs are gonna come out of your head.

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