Swiss Court Agrees to Help Haiti Recover Duvalier Bank Funds
A court in Geneva has agreed to help the Haitian government recover money former President Jean-Claude Duvalier put in Swiss banks, legal aides said Wednesday.
A magistrates court, meeting behind closed doors, rejected an appeal by the ousted dictator against a court decision last October to provide the Haitian government with documents seized in two Geneva banks, the aides said.
Dominique Poncet, lawyer for Duvalier, said he will appeal the decision.
The Haitian government, accusing Duvalier of embezzlement of public funds, asked Swiss authorities in Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne for legal assistance in June, 1986. Duvalier’s assets in the three cantons have been frozen since April, 1986.
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