 Implication
of many top government figures in the assassination
of Jean Dominique
Port-au-Prince,
14 Mai 2001. (infohaiti.com).-
"In assassinating Jean Dominique the authors of the
crime saw him not as a journalist but as a political
militant." So will the official Haitian investigation
conclude in its review of the circumstances surrounding
the murder on April 3, 2000 of the director of Radio
Haiti Inter. According to documents obtained by Info
Haiti the official implication of many personalities
of the ruling Fanmi Lavalas party will be the final
conclusion of the investigation mounted by examining
judge Claudy Gassant.
The key witnesses questioned
under oath have said that the plot resulted from the
acute fear among those close to Jean-Bertrand Aristide
that René Préval would not allow the Fanmi
Lavalas leader to return to the National Palace. Their
fears were heightened by the creation of the KOZEPEP
organization with its large turnout of members, mostly
peasants, in both the capital and many provincial towns,
showing no allegiance to the party or the leader at
Tabarre. According
to these witnesses the director of Radio Haiti was perceived
in party conclaves at Tabarre as a potential candidate
in the year-2000 presidential elections against Aristide.
This fear was further heightened by the many campaigns
of KOZEPEP on the ground and by the frequent meetings
between former president René Préval and
Jean L. Dominique at Dominique's house high in Petionville
for conversations which proved difficult to monitor.
"At certain moments, Préval was considered a
traitor by the Aristide entourage including Aristide
himself," recounted a witness.
In his public mourning
after the murder of the director of Radio Haiti Inter,
Préval said the KOZEPEP organization was founded
by him and Jean L. Dominique. "Jean Dominique was a
Lavalas independent. He was shot for his independence
and not because he was Lavalas," said President Préval
to the Haitian national assembly last January in the
course of his last presidential act, calling on parliament
to collaborate in the investigation of the crime.
These last supports for
the investigation by the former president are being
shredded by the administration of Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Most of the threats against the person of the examining
judge come from persons tied directly to the chief of
state Aristide. A first attack implicated the Carrefour
member of parliament Milien Romage, a former official
in the presidential bodyguard. The parliamentarian pointed
an Uzi submachine gun in the direction of Judge Gassant,
threatening to "ice" him. The other even more visible
attack was the intervention of the assistant traffic
chief Evens Sainturné, also a former Aristide
bodyguard, openly seeking to reclaim an armored vehicle
in Judge Gassant's possession. The judge has affirmed
that he has received many anonymous telephoned death
threats. "This is a state crime because it embarrasses
and implicates the top state officials, who are using
all means to block the investigation," says one source
close to this investigation.
The conclusion of this
investigation which will be sent to the prosecutor Josué
Pierre Louis names the top government leaders who should
be officially indicted for their direct participation
in the plot to assassinate Jean L. Dominique, director
of Radio Haiti Inter, and the security guard Jean Claude
Louissaint.
Très
bientôt…
Kiskeya
Herald
Une
publication du
Groupe
InfoHaiti et
HaitiVision
Production
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Haiti@inxil.com
· James
R. Morrell, executive director