Outpouring of reactions to the release of 4 activists Monday  

Port-au-Prince, August 17, 2006 (AHP); Reactions poured in from all directions following the releases on Monday August 14 of four Lavalas political prisoners. The criminal court of Port-au-Prince, presided by Judge Fritznel Fils-Aimé, ordered their release due to an absence of evidence. The judge made his ruling without a jury.  

The former detainees are activist and renowned musical artist Annette Auguste, known as Sò Ann, activist Paul Raymond, popular musical artist Yvon Antoine, better known as Yvon Zap-Zap, and activist Georges Honoré.

These political activists were locked up for more than two years in prison, accused of involvement in the violence that took place on December 5, 2003 at the School of Social Sciences and INAGHEI (the National Institute of Management and Advanced International Studies), when a number of students were beaten and both legs of Rector Pierre Marie Paquiot were broken.  

Several students attending the State University of Haiti (UEH) criticized the office of the rector for not doing enough to enable the university to obtain justice.  

" No complaint mechanism was made available to the victims of December 5, 2003 that would allow them to file a complaint against the perpetrators of this brutality", said some of the outraged students.  

Hervé Saintilus, former president of the FEU (Federation of University Students of Haiti), deplored that the students were not interviewed in connection with the judicial investigation of this case.  

The vice-rector of academic affairs at the UEH,  Wilson Laleau, speaking in his personal capacity and not on behalf of the university, rejected out of hand any suggestion that  the rector's office behaved irresponsibly in this matter.  

For their part, Parliamentarians of the 48th legislature welcomed the release of the four political prisoners.  

Deputy Faustin Poly declared that "justice has triumphed". He warned against any euphoria however, lest anyone forget the great many other Lavalas activists still languishing behind bars unjustly.  

Deputy Nixon Dorestil cast the imprisonment of Lavalas activists in the light of a series of earlier maneuvers whose sole objective had been to obtain the departure from office of  Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Nixon Dorestil expressed hope that the judicial authorities will continue this work because Haitians are still generally being preyed upon and are victims of poor judicial decisions.  

Senator Ultimo Compère considered it absurd that Haitians would be kept in prison for such a long time without any charges made against them.  

According to the Senator, this situation proves that all Lavalas activists have been imprisoned for political reasons by the interim government.  
AHP August 17, 2006 12:00 PM