22469: (Hermantin) PalmBeachPost-Haiti wants Aristide back -- to stand trial (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Haiti wants Aristide back -- to stand trial

Los Angeles Times
Sunday, June 20, 2004



PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- As deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was
departing the Caribbean for South African exile last month, he vowed to
return to his homeland.

Haitian justice authorities also want him to return -- to face trial for
alleged drug trafficking, money laundering, misuse of public money and
expropriation.

"We are investigating these misdeeds, and if we have evidence of his
wrongdoing, we will seek to extradite him," interim Justice Minister Bernard
Gousse said. "The investigation is continuing, and I don't want to
jeopardize it, but I can say we are making progress."

Aristide's Miami-based lawyer, Ira Kursban, said his client steadfastly
rejects such allegations as "totally false and politically motivated."
Noting that only the United States recognizes the interim Haitian
government, Kursban described the inquiry as "an investigation designed to
smear President Aristide that is directed by the U.S. Embassy in Haiti."
Moreover, Haiti has no extradition treaty with South Africa.


Turmoil
in Haiti
View images by Post photographers on the scene.
• Latest AP news
• Portraits: Haiti in Crisis

Investigators in the United States and Haiti are reviewing financial records
of Aristide's Cabinet members, parliamentary leaders and members of his
Lavalas Party to find whether any who used their positions to prosper at the
expense of the hemisphere's poorest country.

Much of the suspect activity took place under the Aristide Foundation, which
oversaw projects jointly financed by the Haitian government and benefactors
from abroad. Authorities say they believe that Aristide's expropriations
were in the hundreds of millions of dollars -- in a country with a national
budget of less than $400 million -- but they say the paper trail has
disappeared in part because of destruction carried out in the last days of
his rule.

Meanwhile, problems continue in Haiti. Electricity, already nonexistent in
rural areas, dwindled to about one hour of service a day in the capital late
last month.

The interim minister for public works and communications, Jean-Paul
Toussaint, says the shortage was a result of contracts signed by the former
leadership with private suppliers of fuel for gas-powered generators. The
deals wiped out the little left in the treasury, he said.

_________________________________________________________________
Make the most of your family vacation with tips from the MSN Family Travel
Guide! http://dollar.msn.com