Switzerland's highest court is to decide whether money deposited in Swiss banks by Haiti's former dictator will go to his family or his country.
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The family of Jean-Claude Duvalier – nicknamed Baby Doc – appealed on Tuesday against the decision taken two weeks ago by the Federal Penal Court to unfreeze deposits worth SFr7,000,000 ($6.6 million) and give them to the authorities in Haiti.
The case will now be heard by the Federal Court in Lausanne.
The family argues that the money is part of the personal fortune of Baby Doc’s mother. However the penal court said she was part of the same criminal organisation headed by his father, who preceded him in office, and that she had benefited from the systematic embezzlement of funds which he had operated.
The Haitian government accuses the Duvalier family of misappropriating over $100 million before the overthrow of the dictatorship in 1986.
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Its decision, announced on Thursday, followed a ruling two days ago at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. The court rejected a citizen’s appeal by Basel University criminologist Mark Pieth to keep a freeze on the assets in Swiss banks valued at SFr7.7 million ($6.68 million). Pieth had opposed returning the funds to Mobutu’s heirs,…
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That is when the account holding SFr8 million or so ($6.9 million) deposited in Swiss banks by the late president of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko, is due to be unfrozen. But it is not in fact clear what will happen. Despite its reputation for turning a blind eye to the source of deposits, Switzerland’s recent…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.