30442: (news) Chamberlain: Haitian ex-paramilitary leader to stand trial (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - A Haitian former paramilitary leader
accused of rape and murder in Haiti will stand trial in New York for
mortgage fraud, a state judge ruled on Tuesday after a human rights group
argued he could escape justice if he were to return to Haiti.
     Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, 50, was to have served a reduced prison term
in return for pleading guilty in February to fraud and grand larceny.
     But State Supreme Court Judge Abraham Gerges rejected that plea
agreement based on detailed information he recently received regarding
Constant's leadership role in the Front for the Advancement and Progress of
Haiti, known as FRAPH.
     "These allegations, if true, are heinous, and the court cannot in good
conscience consent to the previously negotiated sentence," the judge said
in a written ruling. "The court also cannot consent to time served, as that
would be a travesty."
     The judge set a trial date of Sept. 24. If convicted, Constant faces a
maximum of 15 years in prison.
     The Center for Constitutional Rights told the judge by letter that
Constant should not be deported but instead serve a full sentence for
economic crimes in New York because it was likely Constant "could evade
justice in his home country" for human rights violations.
     The legal rights group said the ex-death squad leader of FRAPH, which
formed to undermine former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, fled
to New York in 1994 soon after Aristide returned to power and issued his
arrest warrant.
     The group said Constant was a former paid CIA informant and had
directly conspired in the assassination of Aristide's Minister of Justice,
Guy Malary, but had been allowed to stay in the United States.