14212: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Press Attack (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 27 (AP) -- Police investigating the shooting death
of a guard at a prominent journalist's home said Friday that they were
trying to determine if the broadcaster was the target.
   The France-based group Reporters Without Borders said the Christmas Day
attack appeared to be an attempt "to eliminate" journalist Michele Montas,
calling the attack a "despicable and cowardly action."
   Montas -- the widow of radio station owner Jean Dominique, who was
assassinated in 2000 -- also said she believes the two gunmen were trying
to kill her because of her demands for justice in her husband's killing.
Since then, Montas has run the station and anchored the 7 a.m. daily
newscast that they once led together.
   Montas was at home with her elderly mother when the security guard was
shot three times outside the house. But police said the attackers
apparently didn't aim at the house.
   "We are excluding no hypothesis," police spokesman Jean-Dady Simeon
said. "We can't say as yet whether the killing was motivated by politics,
theft or revenge."
   Montas said the attack was linked to an anticipated indictment of her
husband's killers. An investigating judge has promised an indictment by the
end of the year. No one has been charged, and Montas has criticized the
investigation's slowness.
   Dominique, Haiti's most prominent journalist, once supported President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's party and was killed as he began to openly
criticize the party. He was gunned down on April 3, 2000, at his station,
Radio Haiti-Inter.
   Press freedom groups have faulted the government for failing to bring
Dominique's killers to justice. They have accused the government of
tolerating attacks on the press -- charges the government denies.
   Aristide and First Lady Mildred Aristide visited Montas to assure her
the government is committed to advancing the investigation into Dominique's
killing, a statement from Aristide's office said.
   "If an indictment is due, it must be published to know who is guilty and
who is innocent," Aristide said Thursday. "Without peace and justice we
cannot transform this country."
   Since mid-November, at least three people have been killed and 350
injured in clashes that erupted during anti-government protests. Aristide
has blamed much of the recent violence on the opposition.
   On Thursday, 184 civil society groups signed a declaration saying they
won't support holding legislative elections, planned for next year, until
the government guarantees security and freedom of speech.