Swiss ‘Duvalier Law’ Eases Rules on Seizure of Dictators’ Assets
Switzerland has eased the rules on the confiscation of dictators’ illegal assets under a new law that could see former Haitian ruler Jean-Claude Duvalier’s Swiss holdings sent back to the nation’s government.
The legislation taking effect today allows countries to obtain the restitution of a despot’s funds even without producing a domestic court conviction, the Foreign Ministry said today in an e-mailed statement from Bern. Known as the “Duvalier Law,” it replaces more rigid requirements that many developing nations can’t meet.
The Swiss government has faced growing international pressure to change banking regulations after revelations that financial institutions had accepted money from former dictators such as Duvalier and Nigeria’s Sani Abacha. Until now, Swiss authorities insisted the rulers must be convicted at home before considering restituting any assets.
“Haiti has asked for administrative assistance regarding Duvalier’s assets,” said Valentin Zellweger, a director at the Swiss foreign ministry’s department of international law, speaking in a telephone interview. “The country’s judiciary is too weak to follow up with the proceedings. Switzerland’s new law is designed to fill that gap.”
The new rules permit a dictator’s Swiss holdings to be returned “unless the legal origin of the assets has been demonstrated” by the foreign potentate, the foreign ministry said in its statement. The funds will be sent “to the country of origin for the benefit of the population,” it said.
Bob Barr, a former U.S. congressman, said last month he’s advising Duvalier as the ex-dictator seeks to unlock as much as $7.3 million of frozen funds left in Swiss banks when he fled to Paris exile in 1986.
Switzerland on Jan. 19 said it had frozen any holdings of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo to “prevent any possible misuse of the funds.”
The decision to block the assets will be in force for three years, the government added.
To contact the reporter on this story: Klaus Wille in Zurich at kwille@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net
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