Wilde statue makes a statement
By Graham Heathcote
The Associated Press
LONDON — Irish poet and
playwright Oscar Wilde has
struck another blow against social
convention, a century after he was
disgraced and jailed for homosex
uality.
Britons on Monday unveiled a
larger-than-life-size statue of
Wilde that depicts him in his fa
vorite pose — talking, and with a
cigarette protruding from his up
raised right hand.
“A cigarette in Wilde’s day was
a symbol of a young man’s deca
dence and modernity and is now
a symbol of political incorrect
ness,” said actor Stephen Fry,
who played the lead role in the
fdm “Wilde.”
“Showing him smoking is yet
again a big finger shoved in the
face of society,” Fry said.
The memorial near Trafalgar
Square in the heart of London is a
bronze head of Wilde rising from
a nine-foot-long block of black
marble. Its title is “A Conversa
tion with Oscar Wilde 1854
1900.”
The marble block is inscribed
with a line from Wilde’s play,
“Lady Windermere’s Fan”: “All
of us are in the gutter, but some of
us are looking at the stars.” Some
of his other well-known works are
“The Importance of Being
Earnest" (1899) and “An Ideal
Husband” (1895).
The statue was unveiled on the
anniversary of Wilde’s death at
age 46 in Paris, where he had
been living in self-exile and
poverty. He had been sentenced
to two years of jail in 1895 for ho
mosexual practices revealed dur
ing his abortive libel action
against the Marquis of Queensber
ry
The marquis had objected to
Wilde’s association with his son,
Lord Alfred Douglas.
“The fight that he waged for
diversity in our society — the
right to be different — I think we
have made substantial strides to
wards winning, and it is partly
because of him,” said Culture
Secretary Chris Smith, one of
two openly homosexual mem
bers of the Labor Party govern
ment’s Cabinet.
A committee of writers, actors,
academics, philanthropists and
journalists raised $249,000 to pay
for the statue.
Wilde uttered one of his best
remembered lines when arriving
at the New York customs house:
“I have nothing to declare but my
genius.”
Hospital says General Pinochet can leave
By Maureen Johnson
The Associated Press
LONDON — The London hos
pital where Gen. Augusto
Pinochet is being held under po
lice guard said Monday that the
former Chilean dictator no longer
needs special medical care and
should quickly find another place
to stay.
The statement by the Grove
lands Priory appeared to be a new
blow to any hopes the 83-year-old
Pinochet had of fighting extradi
tion to Spain on grounds he is un
fit for trial.
The private psychiatric hospi
tal, sounding openly impatient,
noted at a Nov. 17 bail hearing that
lawyers had said Pinochet, who
underwent back surgery Oct. 9,
was fit enough to appear in court.
He is now due to appear Dec. 11.
“It is now the responsibility of
Gen. Pinochet’s advisers to find al
ternative accommodation,” the
hospital statement said. “The
management of Grovelands Prio
ry has reminded his advisers of
this responsibility and it is hoped
that Gen. Pinochet will find alter
native accommodation as soon as
possible.”
Pinochet was arrested Oct. 16 in
his hospital bed on a warrant is
sued by a Spanish magistrate, and
has not been seen in public. The
former dictator underwent
surgery in the London Clinic, a
private hospital in London. On
Oct. 29, he was moved to Grove
lands Priory, some five miles from
central London.
There was no immediate word
on where Pinochet might go. News
reports have said he is planning a
move to a nine-bedroom home on
the private Wentworth estate in
Surrey, southwest of London.
Chilean Foreign Minister Jose
Miguel Insulza flew to Madrid on
Monday after four days of trying to
persuade Britain not to extradite
Pinochet to Spain to face charges of
murder, genocide and torture by se
cret police during his 1973-90 rule.
Insulza maintained Pinochet
may be tried in Chile if he is al
lowed to go home.
In Madrid, the Chilean foreign
minister said he didn’t have “any
expectations” from his two-day
visit to Spain other than to gain in
formation.
However, Insulza told reporters:
“The political climate in Spain is
not favorable to Sen. Pinochet and
that carries weight in the judicial
process even beyond the will of
the judges to be impartial.”
A London newspaper, The Mir
ror, quoted Pinochet’s nephew as
saying that he would rather die
than stand trial in Spain.
“He would rather kill himself or
be killed by his guards than face
the humiliation and indignity of
being sent to face trial in Spain,”
nephew Rafael Pinochet Savedra
was quoted as saying.
The general’s wife, Lucia, told
the tabloid that Pinochet was
“very weak and depressed about
his position.”
A Chilean government report
says 3,197 people were murdered
or disappeared at the hands of his
secret police after Pinochet over
threw a Marxist who had been
elected.
Pinochet has immunity from
prosecution in Chile. Critics say
that even if this were lifted he
would appear before a military
court packed with his supporters.
Home Secretary Jack Straw has
until Dec. 11 to decide whether to
permit extradition proceedings to
begin.
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The ASUO Executive supports
the need for more education.
“The overall goal is to edu
cate people in hopes of build
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The HIV virus is especially
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The national rate is one in
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