Haiti's 'Baby Doc' Duvalier detained for questioning in dramatic morning
Less than two days after unexpectedly returning to Haiti, former dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier was brought to court for questioning over alleged crimes committed during his brutal rule.
Police officers take former dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier out of his hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday Jan. 18. Haitian police took Duvalier, who abruptly returned to Haiti on Sunday, out of his hotel to a waiting SUV without saying whether he was being detained for crimes committed under his brutal regime.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier was taken into custody Tuesday, just two days after the former dictator’s baffling return to Haiti after nearly 25 years in exile.
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Mr. Duvalier was escorted out of the upscale Karibe Hotel in Port-au-Prince’s Petionville neighborhood where he’d been holed up with advisers since flying into the country on Sunday evening.
He didn’t speak as he descended a staircase, without handcuffs, shortly after noon local time, wearing a suit and tie, smiling and waving after a dramatic morning in which a judge, the country's top prosecutor, and police all entered his hotel room as armed special forces stood by.
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He was taken from the hotel where scores of journalists and small contingents of anti-Duvalier demonstrators and loyal Duvalierists had gathered. His supporters called for police to arrest the current president and later tried to block some roads.
A convoy carried Duvalier toward downtown Port-au-Prince. The Associated Press reported that Duvalier was being taken to court. Reuters added that he would be questioned by judicial authorities to determine whether he should be prosecuted for alleged crimes committed during his rule.
Rights group call for Baby Doc's arrest
Exactly why Duvalier returned to the country he ruled brutally for 15 years before being overthrown in a popular uprising in 1986 remained a mystery, although his presence immediately threw a wrench into a protracted election standoff between government-endorsed candidate Jude Célestin and the popular musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly.
Since arriving at the Port-au-Prince international airport on Sunday afternoon, international human rights organizations have called for Duvalier's arrest and prosecution.
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