Préval commits to the timely release of political prisoners,  
including Yvon Neptune

Miami, June 26, 2006 -(AHP)- President René Préval announced during a  
meeting Sunday with the Haitian community in Miami the impending release of  
former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune.
Yvon Neptune has been in prison for 24 months without any serious  
charges, after being accused by opposition organizations of involvement in an  
alleged massacre February 11, 2004, in the Saint-Marc region called Scierie  
(97 km North of Port-au-Prince).
Préval underlined that the justice system was working hard on the  
cases of other political prisoners, including artist and activist Annette  
Auguste (aka So Ann), former delegate of the South Jacques Mathelier and singer Yvon
Antoine.
The former Minister of the Interior, Jocelerme Privert, was freed  
last week after more that two years in incarceration after being ³arrested in  
the middle of the night by former Minister of Justice Bernard Gousse".
René Préval confirmed that his priority is political stability, as  
part of which he has committed to meeting the different sectors of national  
life to ensure its fruition.
The fight against insecurity requires appropriate resources and  
means, said Préval, suggesting that with Mario Andresol as the constitutional head of  
police, positive results would be attained.
The president, who will next announce the Secretary of State for  
public safety (who is expected to be the former general auditor of the head of the  
National Police, Luc Euchère Joseph ), also said that he is counting on the  
support of the business community to help resolve any safety issues that were  
brought up Sunday many times during the Miami summit on tourism in Haiti.
René Preval, who took part in the closing of the summit on Sunday,  
flew to New York Monday where he is also scheduled to meet with members of the  
Haitian community.
He will then go to Brussels, Paris and Saint Kits & Nevis where he will
participate in the annual Caricom summit that will confirm Haiti¹s  
return to the group following their exclusion during the interim period of Gerard
Latortue, following the sudden departure of President Aristide.
In Paris and Brussels, Préval will meet with Jacques Chirac, heads  
of UNESCO, the European Union and the secretary general of the Francophonie,  
Adbou Diouf.
"This tour will enable me to raise awareness among my colleagues of the
current situation in Haiti so that they will know how to best orient  
their aid and to help it stay on the track to sustainable democracy,² he said.
AHP  June 26, 2006 12:50 PM