18 May 2001

Alert

IAPA seeks protection for judge in case of murdered journalist


Incident details

Claudy Gassant, Jean Leopold Dominique

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(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 17 May 2001 IAPA press release:




IAPA Seeks Protection for Judge in Haiti Journalist Murder Case
President Aristide asked to meet with IAPA delegation to continue inquiries and sign the Declaration of Chapultepec

MIAMI, Florida (May 17, 2001) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has told Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide that it is concerned over the reduction in security for the judge conducting the investigation into the April 3, 2000, murder in Port-au-Prince of journalist Jean Léopold Dominique*.

The hemispheric free-press organization expressed its fears in a letter to Aristide signed by its president, Danilo Arbilla, and the chairman of its Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina. In its letter the IAPA recalled that Judge Claudy Gassant might withdraw from the case after receiving threats and being harassed, as has been experienced by other judges.

Gassant reported that police officers assigned to protect him were transferred while the investigation was still underway and had not been replaced. Arbilla, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, news weekly Búsqueda, and Molina, of Ahora magazine, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, declared that "the continuation of the inquiries without due protection or guarantees for the safety of those carrying them out could jeopardize the case."

The IAPA called on Aristide "to make the necessary resources available for the protection of witnesses, relatives of the victim and Judge Gassant, in order to ensure that those behind Mr. Dominique's murder and those who actually committed it are brought to justice." The death of Dominique, a prominent journalist and director of the Radio Haiti Inter radio station in the Haitian capital, was investigated earlier this year by the IAPA's Rapid Response Unit.

In its letter to Aristide, the IAPA stressed how important it was that "the judiciary enjoy sufficient freedom of action, without external pressures, in order to be able to identify those responsible for the murder...and prevent any kind of interference in the investigation and any action that could jeopardize the independence of the legal proceedings."

The Association also told Aristide of its interest in sending a delegation to Haiti to provide support for the judicial inquiry of Dominique's case and to seek his signature on the Declaration of Chapultepec, an IAPA-sponsored document detailing principles of free speech and press freedom, in which he has publicly expressed an interest. Adding his signature would be "a great show of support for democracy and freedom of the press in Haiti," the Association added.

*See details of the Jean Leopold Dominique murder case at www.impunidad.com/cases/jeanleopoldS.html





Source:

Inter American Press Association
"Jules Dubois Building"
1801 SW 3rd Ave.
Miami, FL 33129
USA
Phone: +1 305 634 3465
Fax: +1 305 635 2272
 

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More on this case

Jean Dominique case: RSF, the Haitian Journalists' Association and the Damocles Network call for the case of murdered journalist to be transferred to another judge 28 June 2002 RSF and the Damocles Network urge President Aristide to give assurances to Judge Gassant and express hope that he will resume work on the Jean Dominique murder case 22 April 2002 Impunity continues two years after journalist Jean Dominique's murder 2 April 2002 Senate refuses to lift Dany Toussaint's parliamentary immunity 4 February 2002 Judge's mandate not renewed in Jean Dominique murder case 25 January 2002 RSF calls for sanctions against twenty-four Haitian officials 15 January 2002 New act of intimidation against examining judge in Jean Dominique case 4 January 2002 Assassination of journalist Jean Dominique: RSF urges parliamentary commission to decide in favour of lifting Dany Toussaint's parliamentary immunity 3 December 2001 Death of a second suspect in custody raises doubts as to the authorities' willingness to shed light on Radio Haïti Inter director's murder 15 November 2001 RSF and the International Alliance for Justice for Jean Dominique express concern that the Senate has yet to vote on lifting Dany Toussaint's parliamentary immunity 14 November 2001 RSF once again concerned by impunity in assassinated journalist Jean Dominique?s case 5 October 2001 RSF urges Senate to lift parliamentary immunity of senator implicated in journalist Jean Dominique's murder 14 August 2001 RSF hopes that the judge in charge of the inquiry into journalist Jean Dominique's assassination will return to the case 20 June 2001 New threats to inquiry into assassination of journalist Jean Dominique 14 June 2001 Investigation into assassination of journalist Jean Dominique impeded again 11 May 2001 RSF releases report on the investigation into journalist Jean Dominique's murder 3 April 2001 IAPA publishes Internet report on investigation into journalist's murder 16 March 2001 AMARC condemns assassination of celebrated radio journalist 18 April 2000 RSF denounces threats against private radio station 7 April 2000 CPJ expresses sadness over journalist's assassination 5 April 2000 RSF condemns assassination of radio director 4 April 2000

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