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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 <br>
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</b></h5><font size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, May 25, 2005 (AHP)-</b> 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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
Ronald St-Jean, director of the Group for the Defense of Political
Prisoners (GDP), said that the hearing lasted at least four hours.
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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.<br><br>
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. <br><br>
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.<br><br>
A substantial security contingent was in place for the hearing of the
former prime minister. <br><br>
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</font><h5><b>AHP May 25, 2005 3:10 PM<br><br>
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The New England Human Rights Organization has expressed confidence
that the political prisoners will soon be released <br>
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</b></h5><font size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, May 25, 2005 (AHP)- </b>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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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
. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
Police officers and members of the government were among those killed, he
recalled, and many State offices were looted and set on fire.
<br><br>
Josué Renaud concluded his statement by appealing for
reconciliation among Haitians to save the country. <br><br>
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</font><h5><b>AHP May 25, 2005 10:30 AM
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