Nepal has hired the British law firm that handled a human rights case against Chilean ruler Augusto Pinochet to defend an army colonel arrested in Britain on charges of war crimes, local media reported.
Colonel Kumar Lama has been in custody since January 3.
"Kingsley Napley and its top solicitor, [Michael] Caplan, have already taken up Colonel Lama's case," the Kathmandu Post quoted Nepali Ambassador Chandra Chalise as saying.
"With the help of such a reputed law firm, we now hope that we will be able to get proper legal counsel."
Lama was arrested on allegations of torture committed during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, which lasted from 1996 to 2006.
The next hearing is scheduled for January 24.
The case has divided public opinion in Nepal. Human rights activists lauded the arrest, while the government and its supporters argued that the nation should deal with its own wartime cases through a future Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Pinochet who was arrested in by British authorities in 1988 but was later released on medical grounds and repatriated to Chile.