Posted: January 31st, 2012, 9:03pm MSK
[JURIST] Haiti's Investigative Magistrate Carves Jean ruled Monday that former president Jean-Claude Duvalier [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] will not stand trial for crimes against humanity, including torture, false imprisonment, rape and murder during his reign between 1971 and 1986. Jean dismissed the charges reasoning that there are not sufficient legal grounds and that the statute of limitations has expired. Based on this ruling, Duvalier will go on trial before a special court facing charges of corruption and misappropriation of public funds with at most 5-year imprisonment. Jean's ruling has not been made public. Numerous human rights groups, including Amnesty...