27208: (news) Chamberlain: Doctors confirm jailed Haiti priest has leukemia (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Posted by Greg Chamberlain

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 12 (Reuters) - An outspoken Haitian priest
jailed on murder allegations but considered a prisoner of conscience by a
human rights group is suffering from leukemia, a Haitian medical
examination has found.
     The confirmation that popular Roman Catholic priest Gerard Jean-Juste
is seriously ill is likely to increase pressure on Haiti's interim
government to release him from prison, where he has been held for more than
six months.
     Jean-Juste is widely viewed as the natural successor to former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted by an armed revolt in
February 2004.
     His supporters believe Jean-Juste was jailed to prevent him from
running -- and likely winning -- a presidential election originally
scheduled for November but now due to take place on Feb. 7 after repeated
delays caused by incompetence, violence and logistical problems.
     U.S. doctors reported after visiting the parish priest over Christmas
that he had leukemia. But the interim government resisted calls for him to
be given a formal medical examination until Tuesday, when he was suddenly
taken by authorities to a hospital.
     A report sent to the interim authorities by Dr. Jacques Boncy, who
conducted Tuesday's medical examination, confirmed he has leukemia, medical
sources said on Thursday.
     Jean-Juste's lawyer, Mario Joseph, said he had also seen Boncy's
report.
     "We have received the report and it is a serious and urgent matter,"
Joseph told Reuters.
     "We have attached a copy of the doctor's report to a correspondence we
sent to the investigative judge to request bail so that our client may
receive the medical treatment he urgently needs."
     Jean-Juste was arrested on July 21 last year on allegations he was
involved in the kidnapping and the killing one week earlier of a well-known
Haitian journalist, Jacques Roche.
     Authorities have since brought additional accusations of weapons
violations.
     The Roman Catholic priest has denied the charges and said he was in
Miami at the time of the murder. Amnesty International calls him a prisoner
of conscience jailed for expressing views that the interim authorities do
not like. Members of the U.S. Congress have also called for his release.