Tweet
PORT-AU-PRINCE — AP - Haitian police detained former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier on Tuesday after authorities said he would be questioned and could be prosecuted over money stolen from the national treasury during his 1971-1986 rule. Armed police escorted Duvalier, 59, from the luxury hotel in Port-au-Prince where he had been staying since his surprise return on Sunday to his poor, earthquake-battered Caribbean homeland after 25 years in exile in France. Officers put him in a police SUV with tinted windows which drove away.
Duvalier, 59, was calm and did not say anything. Asked by journalists if he was being arrested, his longtime companion Veronique Roy, laughed but said nothing.
The former ruler, who is accused by human rights groups of being responsible for the killing and torture of opponents during his 15 years in power, was being taken to the office of the Port-au-Prince chief prosecutor, officials said.
"Mr. Duvalier is under the control of the judicial system. He's not free, he's going to my office," Chief Prosecutor Aristidas Auguste told Reuters.
The SUV drove in a convoy of police vehicles to a courthouse, even as dozens of Duvalier supporters blocked streets with overturned trash bins and rocks to try to prevent the former dictator from going to prison.
The courthouse was thronged with spectators and journalists trying to get in to view the proceedings. It was not immediately clear whether the session would be open to the public — or what, if any, charges had been filed against him.
His removal from the hotel came after he met in private with senior Haitian judicial officials met inside his hotel room amid calls by human rights groups and other for his arrest.
The country's top prosecutor and a judge were among those meeting with the former leader in the high-end hotel where he has been ensconced since his surprise return to Haiti on Sunday.
Dozens of Haitian National Police officers were posted inside and around the hotel, some of them in riot gear or guarding the stairwells. A police vehicle for transporting prisoners was parked in front of the hotel's main door and all non-police traffic was halted at the driveway.
Henry Robert Sterlin, a former ambassador under Duvalier who has said in recent days that he was speaking as a spokesman for the former dictator, told reporters at the scene he was shocked by the developments. "Let's see if they put him in prison," he said.
Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have urged Haiti to hold Duvalier accountable for the crimes committed by his secret police, known as the Tonton Macoute, who tortured and murdered political opponents.
The former dictator was also notorious for siphoning the Haiti's wealth into his family's pockets until a popular rebellion drove him into exile in 1986.
'Much easier' to bring charges
The United Nations' human rights office said Tuesday that his return increased the chances that Duvalier would be charged with atrocities committed during his 15-year rule.
"The country where the crimes were committed is a much easier place to bring charges," Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told The Associated Press.
Before his surprise return home Sunday , Duvalier had been living in France for the past quarter-century.
"I believe there have been various cases brought over the years in France," Colville earlier told reporters in Geneva. "We're checking ... exactly what happened over the many years he's been resident in France and why he wasn't arrested."
Colville cautioned that it was unclear whether Haiti's fragile judicial system was in a position to mount a case.
"As with any arrest and charging you have to have assembled some evidence in an organized fashion to bring a case," he said. "It means having a case prepared sufficiently to warrant an arrest, and then the rest of the judicial procedure."
Meanwhile, Switzerland was poised to permanently seize 7 million Swiss francs ($7.3 million) of Duvalier's money.
The funds have been frozen on Swiss bank accounts for years, but a new law — nicknamed "Lex Duvalier" because it was tailored to his case — comes into force Feb. 1.
The Swiss government says it plans to give the money back to Haiti to improve living conditions in the impoverished Caribbean country.
Duvalier, 59, was calm and did not say anything. Asked by journalists if he was being arrested, his longtime companion Veronique Roy, laughed but said nothing.
The former ruler, who is accused by human rights groups of being responsible for the killing and torture of opponents during his 15 years in power, was being taken to the office of the Port-au-Prince chief prosecutor, officials said.
"Mr. Duvalier is under the control of the judicial system. He's not free, he's going to my office," Chief Prosecutor Aristidas Auguste told Reuters.
The SUV drove in a convoy of police vehicles to a courthouse, even as dozens of Duvalier supporters blocked streets with overturned trash bins and rocks to try to prevent the former dictator from going to prison.
The courthouse was thronged with spectators and journalists trying to get in to view the proceedings. It was not immediately clear whether the session would be open to the public — or what, if any, charges had been filed against him.
His removal from the hotel came after he met in private with senior Haitian judicial officials met inside his hotel room amid calls by human rights groups and other for his arrest.
The country's top prosecutor and a judge were among those meeting with the former leader in the high-end hotel where he has been ensconced since his surprise return to Haiti on Sunday.
Dozens of Haitian National Police officers were posted inside and around the hotel, some of them in riot gear or guarding the stairwells. A police vehicle for transporting prisoners was parked in front of the hotel's main door and all non-police traffic was halted at the driveway.
Henry Robert Sterlin, a former ambassador under Duvalier who has said in recent days that he was speaking as a spokesman for the former dictator, told reporters at the scene he was shocked by the developments. "Let's see if they put him in prison," he said.
Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have urged Haiti to hold Duvalier accountable for the crimes committed by his secret police, known as the Tonton Macoute, who tortured and murdered political opponents.
The former dictator was also notorious for siphoning the Haiti's wealth into his family's pockets until a popular rebellion drove him into exile in 1986.
'Much easier' to bring charges
The United Nations' human rights office said Tuesday that his return increased the chances that Duvalier would be charged with atrocities committed during his 15-year rule.
"The country where the crimes were committed is a much easier place to bring charges," Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told The Associated Press.
Before his surprise return home Sunday , Duvalier had been living in France for the past quarter-century.
"I believe there have been various cases brought over the years in France," Colville earlier told reporters in Geneva. "We're checking ... exactly what happened over the many years he's been resident in France and why he wasn't arrested."
Colville cautioned that it was unclear whether Haiti's fragile judicial system was in a position to mount a case.
"As with any arrest and charging you have to have assembled some evidence in an organized fashion to bring a case," he said. "It means having a case prepared sufficiently to warrant an arrest, and then the rest of the judicial procedure."
Meanwhile, Switzerland was poised to permanently seize 7 million Swiss francs ($7.3 million) of Duvalier's money.
The funds have been frozen on Swiss bank accounts for years, but a new law — nicknamed "Lex Duvalier" because it was tailored to his case — comes into force Feb. 1.
The Swiss government says it plans to give the money back to Haiti to improve living conditions in the impoverished Caribbean country.
Comment