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'Baby Doc' Duvalier hospitalized

Former President of Haiti Jean Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti on January 19, 2010 for the first time since he was deposed in 1986. After arriving in Port-au-Prince "Baby Doc" Duvalier indicated he intends to return to politics despite charges of financial corruption and human rights abuse awaiting him. President Duvalier and his wife Michele are shown in this 1980 file photo. UPI/wh/FILE
Former President of Haiti Jean Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti on January 19, 2010 for the first time since he was deposed in 1986. After arriving in Port-au-Prince "Baby Doc" Duvalier indicated he intends to return to politics despite charges of financial corruption and human rights abuse awaiting him. President Duvalier and his wife Michele are shown in this 1980 file photo. UPI/wh/FILE | License Photo

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 25 (UPI) -- Chest pains led to the hospitalization of former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, 59, in Port-au-Prince, his longtime companion said.

Veronique Roy said Duvalier was admitted to a hospital but she declined to discuss his condition in detail, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

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Asked if his condition was serious, Roy replied, "I hope not."

Duvalier was hospitalized Wednesday.

The former dictator returned to Haiti in January after living in exile for more than 25 years. When in public, he appeared to have difficulty moving, sparking speculation that he had been ill.

Duvalier was living in a villa under police guard while a judge investigates whether he could be charged for crimes such as corruption and torture committed while he was "president for life" of the impoverished Caribbean nation. His movements were not restricted, the Post said.

Duvalier was ousted in a 1986 uprising against what was widely considered a brutal and corrupt regime. He had assumed power in 1971 at age 19 after the death of his notorious father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier.

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