Former despot 'Baby Doc' to face charges after return to Haiti

• Jean-Claude Duvalier is taken into custody by Haitian police yesterday Picture: Getty

It was announced that he will face charges of theft, misappropriation of funds and other alleged crimes committed during his 1971-1986 rule.

Port-au-Prince chief prosecutor Aristidas Auguste said: "His fate is now in the hands of the investigating judge. We have brought charges against him"

Earlier, there were scenes of chaos when Haiti's chief prosecutor and a judge, along with heavily armed officers from the Haitian National Police and United Nations security force, entered the Karibe Hotel in Port-au-Prince to remove the former tyrant, who arrived on Sunday after 25 years in exile, claiming he was there to help his people.

In surreal scenes, the 59-year-old emerged smiling and waving from his room, where he had earlier held court with former aides and henchmen, and was ushered into a 4X4 vehicle with tinted windows while a prison van acted as a decoy.

Armoured police cars accompanied his convoy as it drove to the prosecutor's office, where he was to be questioned over crimes committed during his 15-year reign of terror and corruption.

His lawyer, Gervais Charles, complained that authorities' treatment of Mr Duvalier – under whose rule tens of thousands of opponents were tortured and killed, and who looted his country of hundreds of millions of dollars – was "a scandal".

In a brazen challenge to prosecutors, another of his entourage – Henry Robert Sterlin, a former diplomat who claimed to be acting as Mr Duvalier's spokesman – said: "Let's see if they put him in prison."

State and international authorities appeared at a loss as to how to handle the crisis created by Mr Duvalier's reappearance, with concerns running high that his presence, and his arrest, could ignite a political and social powder-keg.

Haiti is on its knees following last year's earthquake, which killed 310,000 people, according to a new government estimate that has now revised the previous count of 250,000.

The multi-billion pound reconstruction effort is mired in complications and delays, leaving an estimated 810,000 people still living rough, and a cholera epidemic has affected 185,000 and killed 3,790 since October.

In addition, Haiti's political leadership is in a vacuum following fraudulent elections held in November, in which the ruling party is accused of having stuffed ballot boxes with votes in favour of President Ren Prval's protg, Jude Celestin.

Mr Prval had pledged if Mr Duvalier ever returned to Haiti, he would be brought to justice. Yet the judicial system is in tatters and unable even to bring petty criminals to account.

Mr Duvalier succeeded his brutal father, Franois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. The dynasty was responsible for the murders of an estimated 30,000 opponents.