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A masked prison guard in
Arcahaie struck Sen. Moïse Jean Charles on May
30 as he attempted to visit Rony Timothée, a
spokesperson for the grassroots organization
“Patriotic Force for the Respect of the
Constitution” (FOPARC).
Mr. Timothée,
arrested May 19 while driving on the Airport
Road in Port-au-Prince, has been imprisoned on
charges of "disturbing public order and setting
a vehicle on fire," according to Haitian
National Police (PNH) spokesman Gary Desrosiers.
Sen. Moïse
arrived at the entrance to the prison in the
town 30 miles north of Port-au-Prince leading
dozens of political activists when prison guard
Julien Frantzy hit him in front of the crowd.
Other agents of the National Penitentiary
Administration (APENA) closed the doors to the
prison, preventing the Senator from visiting the
political prisoner, although he had the
documents permitting him to do
so.
The crowd,
outraged by the assault on the Sen. Jean-Charles
and his being denied access to Mr. Timothée,
banged on the closed prison doors. They then
spontaneously demonstrated in front of the jail,
demanding President Michel Martelly’s
resignation and his arrest for systematically
violating the Constitution and misappropriating
state funds. The demonstrators also accused
Martelly of being behind
the mysterious death
in July 2013 of Judge Jean Serge Joseph, who was
investigating Martelly’s wife and son for
corruption.
"If the Police
are becoming [Tonton] Macoutes, we will burn
them,” the crowd chanted, referring to the fate
of many Duvalier dictatorship henchmen after
President-for-Life Jean-Claude “Baby Doc”
Duvalier fled the country in February 1986. “No
matter what, Martelly has to go!”
Sen.
Jean-Charles held an impromptu press conference
with reporters in front of the prison."When I
came here, I identified myself as Senator Moïse
[Jean-Charles] and presented an authorization
duly signed by Commissioner Claude Jean, and
then [prison guard Frantzy Julien] hit me. I do
not know why he hit me. Honestly, I do not know.
For some time now I have said that we are faced
with a dictatorship. Some did not want to
believe me. But today, the dictatorship is
clearly before us. He hit me in front of
everyone. I have been targeted repeatedly. Last
time, it was
in Gressier
[on May 8] and today it is in Arcahaie.
Previously it was in Plaisance and Aux Cayes.
When I get back to the Senate, we will decide
what follow-up to give this matter."
The senator and
his followers then went to the Arcahaie
Courthouse to file a complaint in accordance
with the law. Judge Henry Claude Louis-Jean
reportedly began to take down the complaint but
then suddenly jumped up and left through a back
door. Outraged by the judge’s flight, the angry
crowd ransacked his office.
Senate
President Simon Dieuseul Desras called the
attack “a premeditated act,” noting that APENA
police generally do not wear masks. “Why were
the police masked that day?” he asked. “The PNH
director, Godson Orélus, must take
responsibility, if he doesn’t want to put his
position in jeopardy. He must take all necessary
measures even before he comes [to testify]
before the Senate. This case was being discussed
today [Jun. 2] at the Conference of
[Parliament’s] Presidents. Sen. Moïse
Jean-Charles wants to summon all those
responsible for this assault against him. The
electoral environment in the country is not
guaranteed.”
On May 31,
Hugues Céléstin, the former deputy of Limonade/Quartier-Morin
northern Haiti, was attacked at about 1:25 p.m.
after he left the popular radio show “Ranmase”
at Radio Caraïbes FM. A short distance from the
station, on Rue Magloire Ambroise, armed men
fired on his car and several bullets shattered
his windows. Mr. Céléstin is a leader affiliated
with the Patriotic Movement of the Democratic
Opposition (MOPOD) in Cap Haïtien.
Sen. Wesner
Polycarpe said the attacks on Mr. Timothée (who
was a former candidate for deputy), Sen.
Jean-Charles, and Mr. Céléstin were part of a
generalized “campaign against Parliamentarians,”
and were a way to scuttle elections, now
tentatively scheduled for Oct. 26, so that
Parliament expires in January 2015. He said the
Martelly government would like to establish a
“dictatorship in the style of Duvalier, their
mentor, their ideological reference in
politics.”
Also on May 30,
policeman William St. Fleure, 48, an Agent 4
from the PNH’s 11th promotion, was
killed by gunmen in the capital’s Petite Place
Cazeau inside his store. The assailants stole a
bag containing his weapon. Officer St. Fleure
had been assigned to the Security Branch of the
PNH.
The climate of
violence was further heightened this week in the
town of Lilavois, north of the capital, when
anti-riot police from the elite UDMO and CIMO
units fired into a crowd of demonstrators
demanding the construction of six kilometers of
road promised by President Martelly during his
passage there in 2012. The shooting killed two
people. One of them has been identified as Hommé
Noël. Fatally struck by a police bullet while
standing in front of his home, he was not among
those demonstrating. Six other people were
wounded.
In the midst of
all this confrontation, Haitian police, backed
by UN occupation troops known as MINUSTAH,
evicted hundreds of people from their homes last
week in downtown Port-au-Prince near the
National Palace to clear the way for the
construction of a new complex of government
offices. Distraught people filled the streets,
some cursing, some wailing. The mood in the
country is turning angrier and uglier with every
passing week. |
