[Ppnews] Haiti: Neptune appears before judge

PPnews at freedomarchives.org PPnews at freedomarchives.org
Thu May 26 16:25:37 EDT 2005





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Former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune appears for a court hearing in 
Saint-Marc: Ronald Saint-Jean expects Mr. Neptune to be released soon 
because, he says, there never was a massacre at La Scierie
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Port-au-Prince, May 25, 2005 (AHP)- Former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune 
appeared this Wednesday in Saint-Marc before the investigating judge Cluny 
Pierre Gilles, who is in charge of the case of the alleged massacre at La 
Scierie.

The accusation that Yvon Neptune was involved in the alleged massacre of 
February 11, 2004 came from an organization hostile to Mr. Neptune's 
government.

Ronald St-Jean, director of the Group for the Defense of Political 
Prisoners (GDP), said that the hearing lasted at least four hours.

The former Prime Minister did not have a lawyer but was accompanied by Mr. 
Patrick Elie, director of another human rights organization, who was 
present as a witness, said Mr. St-Jean.

The GDP director again praised the impartiality of Judge Cluny Pierre 
Gilles in his handling of this case, and was optimistic about the prospects 
that Mr. Neptune would soon be released.

Everyone knows both at the national and international level that there 
never was a massacre at La Scierie and that this was really about framing 
Mr. Neptune for political reasons, said Ronald Saint-Jean.

A substantial security contingent was in place for the hearing of the 
former prime minister.



AHP May 25, 2005 3:10 PM




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The New England Human Rights Organization has expressed confidence 
that  the political prisoners will soon be released
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Port-au-Prince, May 25, 2005 (AHP)- The New England Human Rights 
Organization for Haiti expressed confidence  Wednesday that former Prime 
Minister Yvon Neptune and other political prisoners accused of involvement 
in an alleged massacre said to have occurred on February 11, 2004 in La 
Scierie (part of greater Saint-Marc) would soon be released.

Yvon Neptune has been on a hunger strike for more than a month demanding 
his release because the only accusation that has been brought against him 
is based on the fact that he traveled to Saint-Marc two days before the 
alleged incident to evaluate the damage to the functioning of his 
government as a result of violence such as the takeover of the city's 
police station by armed men who had engaged in intensive looting and arson.

The coordinator of the Boston-based New England Human Rights Organization 
for Haiti, Josué Renaud, urged Judge  Cluny Pierre Gilles, who is in charge 
of investigating the La Scierie case, not to yield to political pressure 
that might come from individuals close to the interim government .

We need people of character today who can carry out their work with 
objectivity and justice, as well as a responsible political class, said Mr. 
Renaud.

Mr. Renaud deplored that political leaders and and members of the 
government who today are calling for an end to impunity in Haiti have so 
quickly forgotten the many wrongs done to the country during the armed 
insurrection against President Aristide.

Police officers and members of the government were among those killed, he 
recalled, and many State offices were looted and set on fire.

Josué Renaud concluded his statement by  appealing for reconciliation among 
Haitians to save the country.



AHP May 25, 2005 10:30 AM


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