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African dictator's French chateau auctioned in Paris

The former French residence of one of Africa’s most ruthless dictators Jean-Bedel Bokassa who was outsed by French forces in 1979 was auctioned Wednesday for 915,000 euros.

Reuters/Joel Robine
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An unnamed individual bought the late self-proclaimed emperor of Central Africa’s home for "his own and his family's personal use," the buyer's lawyer said.

Bokassa, who died in 1996, moved to Hardricourt Chateau overlooking the river Seine near Paris in 1983, after four years in exile in Cote d’Ivoire following his overthrow by French paratroopers in 1979.

A court had ordered that the property be sold despite calls from Bokassa's son Georges to President Nicolas Sarkozy to prevent what he called the plundering of his family's heritage.

The former dictator, who came to power in 1965, was accused of having his political rivals killed and then cooked and served to visiting foreign diplomats or fed to lions and crocodiles in his private zoo.

Bokassa was tried and sentenced to death in 1987 for atrocities committed under his rule but the current president of the Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, who seized power in a coup in 2003, formally rehabilitated him earlier this month.
 

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