President denies 'Baby Doc' pardon report

DUBLIN, Ireland (CMC):

Haiti's President Michel Martelly has sought to clear his position regarding reports that he intends to grant a pardon to former dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, who made an unexpected return to the French Caribbean Community country last January.

"I never proposed to pardon," Martelly told Ireland's Newstalk FM radio, less than 24 hours after he was quoted by an international news agency in an interview as saying, "my way of thinking is to create a situation where we rally everyone together and create peace and pardon people, to not forget about the past - because we need to learn from it - but to mainly think about the future".

But speaking on the radio programme last Friday, Martelly said he was misunderstood by the news agency, adding that he wanted an end to the internal conflict that has long afflicted his country.

Duvalier will know by month end whether or not he will have to stand trial on charges for various crimes committed during his term in office, investigating judge Carves Jean has said.

Human-rights groups in Haiti and overseas have been campaigning for Duvalier, also known as 'Baby Doc', to face trial for the atrocities committed during his 15-year reign.

International rights groups such as Amnesty International say there is sufficient evidence to bring Duvalier to trial on various charges, including corruption and human-rights violation.