Monday, April 25th, 2005
Fmr. Haitian Prime Minister Beaten in Prison as Interim Gv't Prepares to Charge Him in Connection with Political Killings
The US-backed interim government of Haiti is preparing to charge former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune with having a role in a series of political killings in the town of St. Marc in February 2004. Neptune served as prime minister under Jean Bertrand Aristide who was ousted last year in what he calls a modern-day kidnapping in the service of a coup d'etat backed by the United States. He has denied the accusations and has refused legal representation because he believes his prosecution is illegitimate and illegal. This according to Brian Concannon of the Institute for Justice and Democracy.
Neptune's family says he was badly beaten on Friday as he was taken to a court in Saint Marc to be charged.
Neptune's indictment comes four days after officials charged former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert in the St. Marc killings. Neptune and Privert had been among dozens of former government officials who had been jailed without charge since Aristide's ouster.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/25/1342232