14202: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Press Attack (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 26 (AP) -- Gunmen opened fire on the home of a slain
journalist's widow, killing a security guard who was keeping vigil at the
gate.
   Michele Montas said Thursday that the attack happened minutes after she
had pulled into her home in Petionville, just outside Port-au-Prince.
   Two men approached on foot about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and opened fire at
the front gate, killing security guard Maxim Seide, Montas said.
   Her late husband, Jean Dominique, a prominent journalist and radio
station owner, was gunned down at his station, Radio Haiti-Inter, on April
3, 2000. Montas, who is also a journalist, has run the station ever since,
serving as anchor of the daily newscast that they used to lead together.
   The gunmen escaped, and police blocked off the area outside the house to
investigate. One other security guard who was posted in the courtyard was
not injured.
   The motive behind the Christmas Day attack was unclear, but Montas has
been vehement in her criticism of attacks on the press in Haiti and the
slowness of an investigation into her husband's killing. No one has been
charged.
   Asked if she believes she was targeted, Montas said: "There is no
doubt."
   She said she believes the attack was connected to the expected
indictment of her husband's killers. An investigating judge has promised
indictments by the end of the year.
   Press freedom groups also have faulted the government for failing to
bring Dominique's killers to justice. He was widely considered Haiti's most
prominent opinion maker. Once a supporter of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, he was killed as he began to criticize the governing party.
   Aristide has said he supports freedom of the press, but the France-based
group Reporters Without Borders has criticized him for allegedly not doing
enough to rein in violence against journalists.
   "The presidency vigorously condemns the attack and deplores the death of
Maxim Seide," presidential spokesman Jacques Maurice said. "We want to
reinforce the security of journalists."
   Maurice said police were guarding Montas' house against any further
attack.
   More than 90 journalists have been harassed or roughed up this year, the
vast majority of them by government supporters, according to the
Association of Haitian Journalists.
   The number has increased sharply since mid-November, when
anti-government protesters began demanding Aristide's resignation, accusing
him of tolerating attacks on his enemies and not doing enough to solve the
impoverished country's problems.
   In the past two months, two radio stations have been damaged in arson
fires in the Caribbean country, including Radio Etincelles in west-coast
Gonaives and Radio Maxima in north-coast Cap-Haitien.
   The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has said it is
"deeply concerned about growing threats against Haitian journalists."