The drawing room of Peter Schaad's Chelsea townhouse is crammed with photographs of a happy man, smiling with his wife and children. In another corner of the room there is a much more interesting photograph.
Again, Peter Schaad is smiling for the camera, but this time he is standing with a group of friends. On the left is Denis Thatcher and next to him, his wife, the former Conservative prime minister Baroness Thatcher. Nothing terribly interesting there, except that standing among this cheerful group is the former Chilean leader Gen Augusto Pinochet.
Mr Schaad, a Swiss businessman, is a key figure among Gen Pinochet's supporters. This influential group includes the names of some of the most famous rightwing politicians and socialites in Britain, such as the former Conservative chancellor Lord Lamont, Baroness Thatcher, Lord Londonderry, Prince Charles's friend Patti Palmer-Tomkinson and his first girlfriend, Chilean-born Lucia Santa Cruz.
Their campaign is aided by the considerable funds available to them - reports suggest Gen Pinochet's supporters have raised £2 million - and since his arrest, the PR war between the pro-Pinochet camp and the families and supporters of the "disappeared" and murdered of his regime has been hard fought.
Has Peter Schaad ever allowed himself to consider the charges of genocide and torture made against Gen Pinochet in Spain? Of course he has, and he has no doubts that Gen Pinochet is innocent. "The General is not guilty of any involvement in that; it must have been lower down in the ranks in the police," he says defiantly. Does the General not bear responsibility as head of state during the military government of 19731990?
He is ready for this one too: "I accept that he would have been responsible if it was large-scale and systematic, but it was a civil war. I cannot, I refuse to assume that it was systematic.
"He is a professional soldier since the age of 18 and when you join the army the first thing you are given is a gun. Now, the gun is not to stir in your tea, it is in order to defend the country and to kill . . . but he has never personally killed anyone.
"He was trying to be terribly fair and give Allende the opportunity to bail out gracefully without loss of life, both for Allende and for other people. When that appeared impossible, then he had to strike and you should see it as a civil war."
For Mr Schaad, the "lies and insinuations" of the left have clouded the true figures of those that were murdered or "disappeared" in Chile during Gen Pinochet's regime. He justifies this point by saying that every country has "disappeared" and declares that 800 of the 3,000 murdered in Chile were policemen and soldiers that were shot by terrorists.
Chile's crimes, he says, are not comparable to the systematic murders of civilians in other South American countries, such as El Salvador. "I'm sure some disappeared for reasons where there are a lot of question marks. Torture cannot be justified under any circumstances. But I am convinced of one thing, that the General is not guilty of any involvement in that."
Mr Schaad has been quoted in other media, notably the Spanish newspaper El Pais, as having a rather less scrupulous attitude to human rights. Perhaps he is now more mindful of the media impact of such views, because when we spoke for a second time after a long interview, he was insistent that this point should be made.
In 1976, three years after Gen Pinochet became dictator, Peter Schaad was given $25,000 by his employers, Holland Chemical International, to start his own business in Chile. He never paid much attention to the curfews during 1976-78 and says the Chilean police never bothered him, or treated him badly. In fact, he describes this as a "wonderful" period in his life.
In order to show his appreciation for "kicking communism in mainland South America in the teeth" and the "phenomenal" economic record of Gen Pinochet's military government, Mr Schaad organised a little drinks party in Piccadilly five years ago and invited peers, MPs and businessmen. It was the first time they had met and he thanked Gen Pinochet for creating the economic conditions whereby young people could succeed.
Ever since that first meeting, the two men have met regularly in Britain and Mr Schaad acted as translator for Gen Pinochet when he had tea with Baroness Thatcher before his arrest last year. Now he visits Gen Pinochet twice a week at his rented house in Wentworth, Surrey, where he has been staying while he waits for the seven judges to decide if he has immunity from prosecution and legal process in Britain.
Whatever decision they reach today Peter Schaad insists Gen Pinochet is the victim of an international socialist conspiracy: "He is deeply unhappy that he is arrested. And the General cannot believe that he is arrested in this country which he helped 15 years ago.
"He is convinced that this is another sacrifice he is making for his country. He once said to me: `Peter, I am in my late 70s. I am responsible only to God and to the Chilean people and I have a very, very clear conscience.' That was years ago and of course now he wishes he had done something about his image."