Haiti, January 31: A Haitian judge has recommended that former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier face trial for corruption but not for human rights violations.
Investigative Magistrate Jean Carves said on Monday that Duvalier should not face charges of human rights abuses allegedly committed during his 15-year rule because those charges fell outside Haiti’s statute of limitations.
Duvalier is alleged to have embezzled between 300 million and 800 million dollars of assets during his presidency.
He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
However, he denies the allegations, and his lawyers say they will fight any decision to put the former ruler on trial.
Carves’ recommendation is likely to anger human rights activists and victims of repression, who say Duvalier was responsible for the murders, disappearances, and torture of thousands of people during his rule.
The former dictator, known as ‘Baby Doc,’ made a surprise return to Haiti in 2011 after 25 years of exile in France.
Duvalier, 60, inherited power from his father, Francois ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier, in 1971 and ruled the Caribbean nation until 1986, when he was driven from power and fled the country.
——Agencies