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Emergency Alert: Father Jean Juste beaten by group 184 people at church,
feels he is under arrest, is being questioned since this morning at
police station and is NOT FREE to go.<br>
*<br><br>
This morning, Father Gerald Jean-Juste went to St. Pierre Church in
Petionville. He was part of group of priests and monsegneurs who where
participating in the funeral service of well-known journalist and kidnap
victim Jacques Roches. (For info on Jacque Roches, see "Death
Regimes tries for 'a second December 5th, 2004' attempting to leverage
the sad death of Jacques Roche to criminalize Lavalas and spread more
untruths" at:<br>
<a href="http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/rocheused.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/rocheused.html</a> )<br><br>
While walking in with the priest delegation, members of group 184, in the
church started chanting "Jean Juste must go to jail, Jean Juste must
go to jail." They also started a raucous saying that they didn't
want Jean-Juste to take part along with the other priests he was with who
would conduct the funeral service. <br><br>
HLLN doesn't have all the specific details, but this is what a friend who
just now spoke to Jean-Juste, who is currently at the police station said
to: "A group of 184 coup D’etat people, walked up to Father
Jean Juste and started beating him, right in the church. They hit him in
the head, eye, all over. Morally he's very strong. Because yesterday when
he left the Justice Palace, we know he spoke to the media. He let them
know that the kidnappings in Haiti started with the kidnapping of
President Aristide and must stop with the return of President
Aristide." <br><br>
"They don't like his speech to the media yesterday. That's why they
beat him up today." <br><br>
<br>
Even though our phone connection, started to mysteriously beep, before I
lost contact, HLLN's source who had just spoken directly to Father Jean
Juste less than fifteen minutes before, continued "when the
atmosphere got tense, MINUSTHA and the National Police walked over to
talk to Jean Juste. I think they asked him to leave. Then at that moment
there was an aggression. Just as MINUSTHA (UN soldiers) and the Haitian
police, who were in St. Pierre's church, where talking to Jean Juste,
that's when group 184 started to beat him senseless. It seems
like the police took him from the church, saying they were taking him out
for his own safety. but Father Jean-Juste now believes he was put under
arrest."<br><br>
"They beat him badly, the GNB. But, right now Father Jean Juste is
still at the police station. He's been there since 9:30 or 9:45 this
morning. It's now past 5 o'clock. So, he now believes he is under arrest.
What is strange, they took him police station that is one block from St.
Pierre, a Catholic church in Petionville. But he is still inside. They
won't let him leave. So it appears<br><br>
He's been victimized, twice. First by getting beaten right in front of
MINUSTHA soldiers and the National Police and now they won't let him go
home. He is still inside the police Station."<br><br>
After getting this report, I called Father Jean Juste cell phone
directly. The first time, it was busy. The time was 5:20pm.<br><br>
I want to get this out fast, but need collaboration. I waited and few
minutes and called again. This time, just now at 5:32pm, Father Jean
Juste's phone was answered by Attorney Bill Quigley.<br><br>
Bill couldn't stay on the phone for long. Said the police and officials
were just calling them back into a room for further questioning.
But he said, in sum, let the solidarity network and international
community know that we need their help. We need the UN to commit to
protecting Father Jean-Juste. I asked Bill Quigley some quick questions
about what happened and he basically said this "they shoved him,
spit on him, cursed him, tried to hurt him. MINUSTHA was trying to
protect him. But the crowd overcame the protection. A women who tried to
help was shoved away..... They called him "dirty rat." He was
assaulted while in full priest clothing."<br><br>
I asked Bill about Jean Juste condition and whether he was beaten by the
crowd. Bill said that he doesn’t know whether father Jean Juste needs
medical help. If I understand correctly, on the surface père Jean
Juste does not need immediate medical care. He was just severely shoved,
spit at, cursed, et al. But according to our first source who spoke
to Jean Juste, the father feels he is under arrest.<br><br>
Bill Quigley confirmed “He is not free to go.”<br><br>
I am sure attorney Quigley, who was with father Jean Juste this morning
at the church and all day at the police station will provide us with more
information soon.<br><br>
Write, fax, call UN authorities, who just recently expanded (UN Security
Council Res. 1698) their authority in Haiti and now supervise and control
the Haitian police, ask the UN to stop the officially sanctioned
harassement of father Jean Juste and that he be released from the police
custody immediately. (MINUSTHA and other contact info is on our
website:
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/contactinformation/un-intl-contacts.html<br>
<br>
Thank you.<br><br>
Marguerite Laurent<br>
July 21, 2005 5:39pm<br>
******************************************************<br>
HLLN Statement -
<a href="http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/openletter.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/openletter.html<br>
</a>July 21, 2005<br><br>
Open Letter Demanding a Stop to UN slaughter<br>
of Haitian civilians in Site soleil, Haiti<br><br>
***********************<br>
Demand a Stop to the killings in Cite Soleil<br>
Please send appeals immediately<br>
See Urgent Action Alert<br>
<a href="http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/protect.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/protect.html<br>
</a>************************<br><br>
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan<br>
President George W. Bush<br>
President of the UN, Jan Eliasson<br>
General Pereira, MINUSTAH<br>
Toussaint Cong-Doudou, MINUSTAH<br>
Juan Gabriel Valdes, MINUSTHA<br>
Mahamane Cisse-Guoro, UN Human Rights office, Haiti<br>
David Beer, Commissioner of CIVPOL<br>
Ambassador Claude Boucher, Canada<br>
M. Yves GAUDEUL, Ambassador of France in Haiti<br>
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