Thursday, July 27, 2006 · Last updated 4:13 p.m. PT

Former Haitian prime minister released

By MYRNA DOMIT
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, third from right, is carried by two U.N. peacekeepers moments before being released from jail in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, July 27, 2006. Neptune was released from jail more than two years after his arrest on charges of orchestrating the killing of opponents of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide at the start of a rebellion that engulfed the country. (AP Photo/Evens Sanon)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune was released from jail Thursday, more than two years after his arrest on charges of orchestrating the killing of political opponents at the start of a rebellion that engulfed the country.

Haitian officials signed documents approving Neptune's release before he was taken to a U.N. hospital for treatment and observation, said Jacques Dyotte, prison reform director for the United Nations Development Program in Haiti.

A lawyer for Neptune said he was released for humanitarian reasons because of failing health.

A small crowd gathered at the prison to watch as two U.N. peacekeepers carried Neptune, wearing gray shorts, sandals and a short-sleeved blue shirt, into an ambulance.

Dyotte said he could not comment on the status of the charges against Neptune, who was prime minister from 2002-2004 under President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Neptune was accused of orchestrating the killings of at least 25 government opponents in the western town of St. Marc on Feb. 9-11, 2004, some two weeks before Aristide was ousted following an armed rebellion.

The former prime minister has denied the allegations and reportedly refused meals for weeks to protest his detention.

Mario Joseph, the attorney for Neptune, said he did not know the former prime minister's precise medical condition, but said it is related to his repeated hunger strikes. "He is very weak," Joseph said.

The U.N. mission in Haiti welcomed Neptune's release, saying he'll remain under the care of U.N. medical staff until he is well enough to return to his family.

Joseph said he was confident the case against Neptune would soon be dismissed.

"After the hospital, he is free to go home," Joseph said. "I'm confident that charges will be dropped."

A U.S.-backed interim government, which was replaced May 14 by President Rene Preval, had faced international pressure to release Neptune, whose prolonged detention fueled allegations of political persecution.

Last year, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cited Neptune's case as an example of the need to improve Haiti's justice system, which is burdened by corrupt judges and police and overcrowded prisons.

After his arrest in June 2004, Neptune became a rallying point for militants demanding the release of hundreds of Aristide officials and loyalists jailed without having the legality of their detention confirmed.