Verinique Roy - Haiti Observer Blog

The leading attorney for Former Dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, Mr Reynold Georges, told the Press Monday (3-4.2013) that his client was hospitalized for an unspecified illness. This is just after the former Haitian Dictator testified last week in court. Lawyer Reynold Georges put the blame for his current illness to his last court appearance stating that Duvalier was not feeling well before the Thursday court hearing and his doctor had advised him not to testify.

As he was defending his government during his last court hearing, the 61-year-old Jean Claude Duvalier Duvalier looked ill and appeared to have lost weight. He periodically wiped his forehead with a white cloth. If confirmed, this hospitalization would be the second time Duvalier has sought medical treatment in the past two years. Two months after his 2011 return, he was hospitalized due to unspecified chest pains. Some said he has cervical osteoarthritis which a degeneration of the spinal column in the neck area.

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This is one for Haiti history book, former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier appeared in a Haitian court for the first time Thursday (February 28, 2013) to answer charges of human rights abuses during his brutal lasting over 15 years (1971-1986).

Te courtroom holding that historic event in Port-au-Prince was packed. One could remark the presence of several journalists, activists, supporters of the Duvalier regimes, as well as representatives from several embassies.

This was also the first time the victims were facing Jean Claude Duvalier, the one they directly accused of being the perpetrator of all these crimes. Alix Fils-Aime and Robert Duval, two of the most vocal victims of Duvalier Crimes were present at the court hearing. It was the first time for them to see Jean Claude Duvalier answer direct questions about the widespread abuses associated with his dictatorial government.

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