8136: Dissident's lawyer killed in car wreck (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Dissident's lawyer killed in car wreck
>From Herald wire services

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- The lawyer for a prominent opposition leader jailed on 
attempted murder charges was killed in a car accident on his way to file an 
appeal for his client.

The mysterious accident occurred as top officials of the Organization of 
American States arrive here to warn President Jean-Bertrand Aristide that he 
must make peace with opposition leaders who say he rigged last year's 
elections against them.

Attorney Yves Jean -- representing jailed politician Gabriel Fortune -- and 
Fortune's brother, law student Moise Fortune, 32, left on Saturday the south 
coast town of Les Cayes, where Fortune is being held for Port-au-Prince.

Moise Fortune, who met with reporters on Sunday after he regained 
consciousness, said he had driven about 55 miles when he realized a white 
sport utility vehicle was following him.

To lose the car, he and Jean turned off into a town for about 15 minutes. 
When they returned to the road, the white vehicle appeared behind them 
again, Fortune said.

Fortune said he kept driving but lost control of his car when he heard what 
sounded like a gunshot. Jean, 50, died in the accident and Fortune was in a 
coma for more than a day.

Fortune's brother Gabriel is one of two opposition activists who were 
arrested last week and whose imprisonment is threatening to scuttle the OAS 
mission here. He was detained May 21 after gunfire broke out at a meeting of 
opposition leaders. The other activist, retired Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril, was 
arrested Saturday while signing copies of his new book.

Avril, an advisor to former dictators François and Jean-Claude Duvalier, 
held power for 18 months after a 1988 coup, but resigned under pressure. He 
now heads a rightist opposition party, Credo.

Opposition leaders said over the weekend that they won't even talk to 
Aristide until he releases the two men.

None of this bodes well for today's visit by OAS Secretary General Cesar 
Gaviria, who is expected to warn Aristide that he faces abandonment by the 
hemispheric community unless he moves quickly to deal with last year's 
flawed elections.



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