Tyrant's chateau under hammer

THE Parisian chateau of former Central African Republic dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa has been valued at €915,000 for auction purposes.

Bokassa, who in 1977 crowned himself emperor of the former French colony in a lavish $20m ceremony, bought the Château de Hardricourt in 1983 while exiled in France, having been deposed by French troops in 1981.

He returned to the CAR in 1986, was tried and sentenced to death. After his sentence was reduced, he was eventually pardoned and died in the CAR in 1996, having claimed to be the 13th Apostle.