Haiti's jailed ex-PM formally charged in killings (.. perhaps ..)

Tue 20 Sep 2005 7:03 PM ET
By Joseph Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Sept 20 (Reuters) - An investigative judge has formally charged Haiti's jailed former prime minister, Yvon Neptune, with masterminding the killings of political opponents last year, radio reports said on Tuesday.

Neptune, who served under ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has been held for more than a year on suspicion of involvement in the killings of up to 50 people near St. Marc, about 60 miles (96 km) north of Port-au-Prince, on Feb. 11, 2004. He has said his arrest was politically motivated.

Judge Clunie Pierre Jules decided to send the case against Neptune to a criminal court, formalizing the charges against him, according to private Radio Solidarity.

Other radio stations, including Radio Metropole, Radio Kiskeya and Radio Vision 2000, carried similar reports, but they could not be independently confirmed. A court official in St. Marc said the judge had issued the report but would not discuss its contents. <snip>

http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N20416868