(AP) Haiti's 'Baby Doc' answers questions in hearing
By TRENTON DANIEL
Associated Press
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
Former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier appeared in a Haitian court for the first time Thursday after repeatedly shunning previous summones, answering questions on whether he should be charged with human rights abuses during his brutal 1971-86 regime.
Activists and opponents applauded as they saw the former ruler known as "Baby Doc" arrive for the hearing wearing a navy blue suit and gray tie, and sit facing the three-judge panel. Near him sat his defense attorneys and his longtime partner, who did not remove her sunglasses during the proceedings.
The session "is an important victory for Duvalier's victims, who never gave up hope of seeing him in court, and for the Haitian people who have the right to know what happened during the dark years of the Duvalier dictatorship," said Reed Brody, counsel and a spokesman for Human Rights Watch.
Duvalier had ignored three previous summons but showed up Thursday after a judge warned that he would be jailed if he shunned a fourth.
Several dozen supporters of Duvalier cheered as the former president-for-life shuffled into the courtroom.
The hearing began with arguments over legal proceedings, with Duvalier's defense attorneys initially requesting a closed-door hearing. Lawyers for the plaintiffs asked Duvalier to speak into a microphone but he refused, and the judge accepted.
Instead of speaking to the court, Duvalier mumbled his responses to a clerk who sat at his side and recorded them in a ledger book. Then the clerk read the answers aloud in French to the judges.
"I have a positive record and this is in all areas," Duvalier told the court. - See more at:
http://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/DA4NUQ3O4#sthash.ZcjJkXmp.dpuf
