Hundreds of Haitians said farewell Saturday to former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, a week after his death revived bitter divisions over his legacy.

The mourners, including powerful players from the 63-year-old’s former regime, gathered at the chapel of his former high school in Port-au-Prince to pay their respects at a family ceremony.

Michelle Bennett (C), ex-wife of former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, speaks with their son Francois Nicolas Duvalier (L) during a family ceremony at at the chapel of the Saint-Louis Gonzague school in Port-au-Prince on October 11, 2014.

The family still commands respect among some in Haiti’s business and political elite, but Duvalier is remembered by rights activists and opposition figures as a corrupt and brutal autocrat.

“Duvalier is a criminal, he won’t go to heaven! Burn him, behead him,” cried a group of youthful protesters as a convoy of luxury SUVs arrived at the church.

Inside the ceremony, politicians, former military officers and churchmen paid tribute to a man who stood accused of having thousands of his opponents killed and presiding over an empire of graft.

Several times the crowd rose in applause as former barons of his regime defended his 15-year reign. The late leader’s 31-year-old son Nicolas stood with his head bowed.

The coffin of former Haitian dictator being accompanied by supporters to the church

The family made no public statements.

The former dictator was driven from office in 1986 by a popular uprising and spent a quarter-of-a-century in exile before returning in 2011 — a year after an earthquake so devastating it overshadowed even the crimes of his era.

Despite his long absence, Duvalier’s record still divides Haiti, an impoverished Caribbean nation of around 10 million people plagued by unrest and an ongoing cholera epidemic blamed on the poor hygiene of UN peacekeepers.

Jean-Claude Duvalier coffin is carried out after funeral service

– ‘Son of Haiti’ –

President Michel Martelly’s government is seen as close to surviving members of the Duvalier camp, and critics warn that many of the networks of corruption he put in place are still operating today.