Priest who led Miami Haitians accused in journalist's slaying (Update)

ALFRED DE MONTESQUIOU
Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Haitian authorities said Tuesday that they asked a judge to open a formal investigation of a Roman Catholic priest who has been accused of involvement in the slaying of a well-known journalist and labeled a "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International.

The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, a prominent figure in the party of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and a possible presidential candidate, will be investigated for a charges that include weapons possession, kidnapping and murder, chief government prosecutor Audain Daniel said.

He was arrested Thursday as he tried to attend the funeral of the journalist, Jacques Roche, and was mobbed by protesters who accused the priest of involvement in the slaying. Police said he was detained because of the "public clamor" for his arrest by the angry demonstrators.

The priest, who was in the United States when Roche was kidnapped in Port-au-Prince on July 10, has denied any connection to the abduction and slaying. <snip>

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/12228715.htm

...and heard about it today on Democracy Now!. It's just shocking. The last I heard about Father Jean-Juste, he was talking with Amy Goodman as he drove to this journalist's funeral on July 21st. Here's part of what he said:

"So right now, today I’m on my way to attend the funeral of Jacques Roche, a prominent journalist who had been kidnapped and killed. And I'm going to show myself because his parents are from my town, and at a certain time, one of his relatives saved my life. I was being attacked by a mob, and then Mrs. Roche came out, saw me, and get me off the gangs and sheltered me at her house. So this is why I feel that I should be there regardless that they keep accusing Lavalas people of participating in the killings."

As he spoke he mentioned his car was being followed by Haitian police.

Father Jean-Juste flew back to Haiti from the US on July 15. He was detained and questioned in Miami before departing, and again on arrival in Haiti, on charges (made on Miami radio no less) of smuggling weapons and money back into Haiti. Between his return on July 15 and July 21, the day of Roche's funeral, Jean-Juste was interrogated multiple times about this allegation and released for lack of evidence.

The protesters at the funeral and Father Jean-Juste's subsequent arrest for Roche's murder were an obvious set-up. He's emerged as the leader of Lavalas in Aristide's absence (exile), and the US and its rightwing-backed coup in Haiti can't have that. They're very busy rounding up and killing everyone who presents a democratic threat to the new regime.