Amidst all the horrific news coming out of the Middle East, I' glad to note that there is some good news coming out of Haiti: Yvon Neptune was released from jail:
Former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune was freed on Thursday from the prison where he was held for more than two years on what he called imaginary charges after the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Frail from an on-and-off hunger strike, the 59-year-old walked out of the National Penitentiary annex supported by two U.N. peacekeepers. They helped him into an ambulance that took him to a U.N.-run hospital for a checkup.
Neptune was never tried and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
"It's not freedom yet," he told Reuters as he left the prison. "The machinery of injustice didn't stop with my release today. The laboratories that invented those kind of imaginary crimes are very strong."
He's absolutely right, and as the Caricom leaders note, he's not alone:
But Neptune's release ``should not obscure the fact that a large number of persons supportive of former President Aristide arrested arbitrarily for what appeared to be political reasons under the interim administration have also been denied justice,'' the 15-member group, known as Caricom, said. It did not disclose further details.
They're absolutely right, but one hopes it's not for long. In any event, the odds for justice being obtained are far better under President Preval than they would have been under Gerard Latortue.
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Posted by: Neighbor | July 31, 2006 at 05:25 PM