"Baby Doc" - charged...then freed by prosecutors.

[Cerridwen]

Haiti's ex-dictator Duvalier charged with corruption; freed by prosecutors

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier Tuesday left a courthouse here after being questioned by prosecutors, but had to remain at their disposal, his lawyer told AFP.

"He is free, but has to remain at the disposition of justices," the lawyer said, as Duvalier left the building, still not in handcuffs and accompanied by his companion Veronique Roy.

Asked by AFP how he was feeling as he got into a car to drive away after hours of questioning, Duvalier said simply "fine."

Duvalier has been charged with corruption and misappropriation of public funds after being taken from his hotel to the courthouse following his surprise return to Haiti on Sunday, his lawyer Gervais Charles said earlier.

No more at: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Haiti+dictator+Duvalier+charged+with+corruption+freed+prosecutors/4126095/story.html#ixzz1BQmxIUBs

Did they take his plane ticket? His passport? (like it would matter) Bail.

Or are they going to trust in his good name? :(

[opihimoimoi]

1. Scare Card in effect....

[Cerridwen]

3. Is that it? Do what "we" want or we set him and his "supporters" loose?

Well, we've been wonder what the plan was. Maybe we're getting closer to an answer.

[opihimoimoi]

32. They want him to go away...not get involved in a return to power...

[derby378]

2. He'll be back in France within 24 hours

Extradition? Not bloody likely.

[Cerridwen]

4. My guess, too.

Sad, isn't it?

Then again, bush and cheney, et. al. are still walking free and hitting the talk shows. You think 'baby doc' will get a reality show? Maybe he could "pal around" with sister word salad?

[Dappleganger]

5. I doubt it.

He would not have gone back to Hait without a plan already in place. Everyone will have some pie, that is what he came for!

[Cerridwen]

6. Another shoe drops: Haitian government refuses to renew Aristede's passport

http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2151-haiti-politic-the-haitian-government-refuses-to-renew-the-passport-of-aristide.html

Haiti - Politic : The Haitian government refuses to renew the passport of Aristide
18/01/2011 17:43:01

Overthrown in February 2004, former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has always accused the U.S. of being behind its removal. After a short stay in Jamaica, he had finally found exile in South Africa, where he lived since, with his family in the hills of Johannesburg.

The lawyer Brian Concannon, director of the American Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, that follows the legal situation of the former president, said that former President Aristide had tried to renew his passport to return to Haiti, but Haitian authorities are opposed to the renewal of this document. "Aristide has the right to return in his country <...> The second thing I know, iit's that he's in South Africa without a passport to return" clarified the lawyer.

Two weights, two measures, the diplomatic passport of Jean-Claude Duvalier was renewed by the Haitian government without opposition in 2005...

[suffragette]

11. Very important point

and very bad news.

[Cerridwen]

12. Especially when you remember 'baby doc' got in on an expired passport.

Two measures, indeed.

[suffragette]

14. We crossposted at the same time

See below.

And the point you just raised makes it even more interesting.

Two measures, indeed.

[Cerridwen]

15. Look down thread. I did the same on another issue with another poster.

It appears many minds are travelling the same paths.

If you start to stumble around, it's because I'm having a beer over here. :)

Gotta laugh about something.

[suffragette]

20. Convergence of lines of thought

Nice that I can now ping you for my normal clutziness, though
:evilgrin:

[Cerridwen]

21. .

:rofl:

Thank you! I so needed a good belly laugh.

I just sent SO on a beer run. Boy are YOU gonna be sorry. LOL

:evilgrin:

[suffragette]

26. Hmm, I'll be taking the bus in a 1/2 hour to an hour

So you need to tell me exactly how you pronounce your screen name so I can say "I'm Cerridwen and I'm so sorry for steppingon you/dropping my groceries on your foot/lap and or leaning into your space."
So, a soft C or a hard one.

:P

LOL

[Cerridwen]

27. The 'c' is pronounced as the 'c' in 'cake' or 'care' LOL

It's pronounced, care-id-when with the accent on the first syllable.

I'm not giving you any personal information; all tickets and warnings are yours alone.

LOL

[suffragette]

29. .

:rofl:

[Cerridwen]

30. ;) ....n/t

[suffragette]

13. Interesting that Gibbs focused on the passport issue

at the WH press conference.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/18/2021657/from-tuesdays-white-house-news.html

From Tuesday's White House news briefing with press secretary Robert Gibbs:

QUESTION: Thank you, Robert. Two brief questions. First, to follow up on Jake's question regarding former President Duvalier's return to Haiti, you said that any former leader coming back should concentrate on human rights and rebuilding Haiti, correct?

GIBBS: Uh-huh.

QUESTION: Does that policy also apply to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide?

GIBBS: Again, I think we're in a period of, obviously, some uncertainty in Haiti; that current or former political actors and their supporters should be focused on not what is best for them but what is best for the people of Haiti. And that goes for -- that goes for anybody, either, as I said, in power or -- or -- or formerly in power: that, first and foremost, we should be thinking about peace, we should be thinking about prosperity, and we should be thinking about what's in the best interest of the people of Haiti as they continue to deal with, more than a year later, the impacts of a devastating earthquake.

QUESTION: So you have no problem -- the administration has no problem with Duvalier or Aristide returning, if they meet that criteria? GIBBS: Again -- again, I -- it's not for me to divine who travels where on a Haitian passport. GIBBS: Again, it is -- it is our strong belief that the test is not -- not a focus on themselves, but a focus on the Haitian people, particularly in a time of uncertainty as we point toward an election. QUESTION: Robert, can you clear up the Haitian thing one more time? I'm confused. Do you support the government's decision to bring him into custody or not? GIBBS: I -- I have not... QUESTION: OK, because that's where I was confused. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. GIBBS: Mine was an -- look, I -- we're -- obviously for somebody to come into the country of Haiti requires a passport for the country of Haiti and I'm not going to get into that. And I'm not going to get into particularly diplomatic developments that have happened while I'm standing up here. Mine was a broader answer to, whether it is Duvalier or anybody else, again, whether in power or out, coming into the country in a time of uncertainty, it is important that we focus on peace and we focus on the people of Haiti. QUESTION: Does the American government's position stand behind the Haitian government on what it -- on how it conducts its business... GIBBS: I am sure that the... QUESTION: I mean, if that's what they ask. GIBBS: I'm sure that the Haitian government has not asked us or is -- we're not on a checklist on what they decide to do in terms of -- in terms of arresting people. And I'm, again, this happened while I was out here. I have not had a long discussion since I've been out here, as you can understand, with the National Security Council about developments have happened while I'm out here. So... QUESTION: Could you... GIBBS: I will -- I will see if there's anything to add.

[tkmorris]

16. Reading that was like wading through a sewer

He really piled it on didn't he?

[EFerrari]

17. Yes, it was. n/t

[suffragette]

18. Um, ah, let me see

Um, ask them.

Ah,I'll have to get back to you on that.

:P

[elfin]

7. He's BAAAACK!

Will be surprised if he leaves or is kicked out. He smells MONEY to be scooped away from all the aid supposed to go to the people.

His remaining buddies and those too young to remember the atrocities or too ill-informed will support him in his grab for power and money. Just one rigged "election" away from Easy Street.

[Cerridwen]

9. Sure looks that way.

If it weren't in such poor taste, I'd start a pool to name the names of the first to "disappear" and when or if anyone notices.

[FLPanhandle]

8. Prosecutors will be found dead next.

I have to believe he still has a network of thugs ready to assist him. He didn't come back from France to sit in a Haitian jail.

[Cerridwen]

10. I just posted the same above.

Awful when that's even a thought. Much less more of us thinking it.

[Cerridwen]

19. Twitter's finally caught up about his release.

He's been released if he promises to stay in Haiti is one I read.

Peachy.

[Cerridwen]

22. Correction. They're catching up. Still not "common" knowledge yet.

Though there are a lot of "reminders" that he's a *US baked* murderous, dictator.

Oh joy, oh joy.

[Starry Messenger]

23. Crap.

x(

[Cerridwen]

24. Agreed.

I dared to hope, just a bit, after they charged him.

Silly me.

x(

[Cerridwen]

25. I stand corrected; "no *formal* charges brought"

"Baby Doc" Duvalier "free" after arrest in Haiti (Extra)

Port-au-Prince - Haiti's ex-dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier was arrested Tuesday on charges of corruption brought by the Haitian government, but was released after six hours of proceedings and grilling by the public prosecutor.

'He's free,' Duvalier's lawyer Gervais Charles, told Radio Metropole after the public tumult that followed Baby Doc to and from the Palace of Justice.

But Duvalier, 59, must remain at the disposal of the justice system, his lawyer confirmed.

No formal charges were brought, pending a decision by Haitian courts if there's enough merit to the government's charges to formally indict him, CNN reported. Duvalier has been accused of both corruption and self-enrichment from public funds.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/americas/news/article_1612770.php/Baby-Doc-Duvalier-free-after-arrest-in-Haiti-Extra

------------

His lawyer's saying, in essence, they don't have a case.

[suffragette]

28. WSJ is including the charge of murder

Only one I've seen do so thus far.

http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2011/01/18/haitis-baby-doc-duvalier-charged-with-corruption-days-after-return/

Two days after returning to his native Haiti for the first time in a quarter century, notorious dictator Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier was taken out a back door of his hotel by police to face corruption, embezzlement and murder charges.


One question I have about the embezzlement charges is that I wonder if this will impact the millions the Swiss were set to release to Haiti from the bank account case. Will the filing of charges mean that that badly needed money will get held while investigation occurs rather than turned over to Haiti on Feb 1?

[Cerridwen]

31. US involvement in keeping Aristide out?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/18/haiti-usa

<snip>

This is not a matter of political correctness; rather, it indicates how much Washington wanted to control the result of this OAS mission. These are the three governments that led the effort to topple Haiti's democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in 2004. WikiLeaks cables released this week show that the United States also pressured Brazil to help keep Aristide out of Haiti after the coup. Since Aristide was, and remains to this day, the most popular politician in the country, the WikiLeaks cables show that Washington and its allies also worked to keep him from having any influence on the country from his forced exile in South Africa.

<snip>

Lacking the force of logic, the US and French governments are turning to the logic of force to get the result that they want. Journalism professor and author Amy Wilentz wrote this weekend in the LA Times:

"According to many sources, including the president himself, the international community has threatened Preval with immediate exile if he does not bow to their interpretation of election results."

<snip>

It is quite possible that the hard right was responsible for the leaking of the draft OAS mission report. On Monday, OAS secretary general Jose Miguel Insulza – embarrassed and angered by the leak, and probably also by Washington and France's gross disregard for Haiti's sovereignty and democratic rights– sought to downplay the mission's report:

way more at link

Long read, but worth it. Many links to additional information.

[suffragette]

33. Looks like we both gravitated to this article with its serious

analysis:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=221910&mesg_id=223082

We are thinking alike today.