29394: (news) Chamberlain: Police officer indicted for kidnapping (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

Top Haitian police officer indicted for kidnapping

By Joseph Guyler Delva



PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct 25 (Reuters) - One of Haiti's top police
officers will face arrest if he does not turn himself in after his
indictment for complicity in kidnappings, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Inspector-General Michael Lucius, head of the police agency that
investigates kidnappings, has refused to appear before investigative Judge
Napela Saintil, who issued warrants against him and two other police
officers last month.

Lucius, who is barred from leaving the troubled Caribbean nation, has
denied the allegations and said Saintil is biased against him.

Haiti's ill-trained police force was decimated by a violent rebellion that
ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. It has been unable to
contain political and gang violence, despite the presence of thousands of
U.N. peacekeeping troops sent to help with security after the rebellion.

Dozens of people have been kidnapped for ransom during the crime wave.

Prosecutor Claudy Gassant said Lucius must appear before the judge or he
will face arrest.

"Our position is clear and firm," Gassant said. "Mr. Lucius has to comply
with the judge's order or he will be arrested."

An investigative judge is forbidden by law from revealing details of an
inquiry. But sources familiar with the case said jailed suspects and others
had provided evidence that Lucius had aided kidnappers who claimed they
were working for him.

"I can't understand that the judge wants to arrest me on the basis of false
accusations brought by criminals I have arrested," Lucius, director of
Haiti's Judicial Police, said recently.

Gassant and Police Chief Mario Andresol had deferred the execution of the
warrants after Lucius decided to challenge Saintil's allegations before the
Supreme Court. But the high court last week rejected Lucius' appeal, which
obliges him to appear before Saintil.