PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was hauled into court to answer questions Tuesday as a legal case was opened against him nearly 25 years after he was ousted from power in a popular uprising against what was widely regarded as a brutal and corrupt regime.

Defense attorney Gervais Charles said the former Haitian dictator known as “Baby Doc” is facing accusations of corruption and embezzlement for allegedly pilfering the treasury before his 1986 ouster.

Charles said the case is now in the hands of a judge of instruction who will decide whether there is enough evidence to go to trial. That process can take up to three months.

Duvalier, who has provided no reason for his return after nearly 25 years in exile, spent much of the day in a closed-door court session.

Haiti’s system allows for pretrial detention. But Mona Bernadeau, a Senate candidate from Duvalier’s political party, said the former leader was expected to return to his hotel.

Earlier Tuesday, a contingent of police led the former dictator through the hotel and to a waiting SUV. He was not wearing handcuffs. Duvalier, 59, was calm and ignored questions, as he was led away to cheers from some and jeers from others.

The SUV drove in a convoy of police vehicles to a courthouse, even as dozens of Duvalier supporters tried to block streets with overturned trash bins and rocks to try to prevent the former dictator from going to prison.

Duvalier was forced into exile in 1986 in a mass uprising and had been living in exile in France.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others have urged the Haitian government to arrest him for widespread abuses.

Duvalier assumed power in 1971 at age 19 following the death of his father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. The father and son presided over one of the darkest chapters in Haitian history, a period when thuggish government secret police force known as the Tonton Macoute tortured and killed opponents.