27381: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti frees Aristide ally for US medical treatment (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 29 (Reuters) - An ailing priest who was a
popular ally of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was
provisionally released from prison on Sunday and allowed to seek medical
treatment in the United States.
     Roman Catholic priest Gerard Jean-Juste, jailed on charges his
supporters say are politically motivated, left Port-au-Prince and flew to
Miami, where he was to be treated for leukemia at the Jackson Memorial
hospital, said Michel Brunache, chief of staff of interim President
Boniface Alexandre.
     His release followed weeks of pressure from U.S. lawmakers and human
rights groups on Haiti's unelected interim authorities to free Jean-Juste,
who is considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
     "We had tried to find a medical center in Haiti that could treat him
but we could not. We even contacted the U.N. hospital run by the
Argentinians ... They did not answer," Brunache told Reuters.
     "So we had no other choice. But that does not mean that the case is
closed. When he comes back after the treatment, the judicial proceedings
will resume."
     Jean-Juste was originally accused of involvement in the murder of a
journalist. Those charges were dropped, but he now faces charges of having
illegal weapons and being involved in illegal gang activity.
     Jean-Juste denies the charges, and his supporters say he was jailed by
the interim government to prevent him from running for president in
elections originally scheduled for November but repeatedly delayed due to
violence, disorganization and logistical problems.
     The poorest country in the Americas is now due to hold presidential
and legislative elections on Feb. 7. Many believe Jean-Juste would have
been the favorite had he chosen to run and his supporters tried to get him
registered as a candidate but were rebuffed by the electoral authorities.
     The interim government under Prime Minister Gerard Latortue was
appointed by a council after Aristide fled the country in February 2004,
chased from office by an armed revolt and U.S. and French pressure to quit.
     Aristide, like Jean-Juste a priest and now in exile in South Africa,
was initially regarded as a champion of Haitian democracy, but he faced
growing accusations of despotism and corruption. He was also stiffly
opposed by Haiti's small and wealthy elite and by U.S. conservatives.