13430: Chamberlain: Haiti-Ex-Dictator (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 23 (AP) -- For the third time since he was arrested
more than a year ago, a court has ordered the release of Haiti's former
military dictator, his lawyers said Wednesday.
   Prosper Avril, who ruled for 18-months from 1988 to 1990, is accused of
ordering the deaths of about a dozen people killed by soldiers in the
west-coast village of Piate in March 1990. The killings took place three
days after a popular uprising ousted Avril.
   Avril denies the allegations.
   On Tuesday, a three-member appeals court in the northwestern city of
Gonaives ordered his immediate release, said Rigaud Duplan, one of the
lawyers representing Avril.
   It was unclear whether the government complied. Prosecutors could not
immediately be reached for comment.
   The court found that "Avril's arrest and detention were arbitrary and
illegal," Duplan said.
   Avril was arrested in May 2001 at a restaurant while signing copies of
his newly published book, the "Black Book of Insecurity." The book blames
street crime and political killings on the failings of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government -- accusation the government denies.
   In April, an appeals court ordered Avril's release, siding with an
earlier court ruling and saying the 65-year-old ex-lieutenant general's
arrest was arbitrary and illegal.
   The initial warrant on charges of plotting against national security was
drawn up in 1996 and had expired, that court ruled.
   Human rights activists accuse the former dictator for rights violations,
but have denounced the government for holding him in spite of court
rulings.