 A priest allied to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has been arrested in connection with the killing of a prominent journalist, his lawyer said Friday. The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste was questioned by the judge and sent to the Central Prison and told he would be charged in connection with the death of Jacques Roche, said Bill Quigley, the priest's American defense attorney. However, chief government prosecutor Audain Daniel said a decision had not yet been made on whether to charge Jean-Juste, an outspoken critic of Haiti's interim government. In an interview before he was questioned by the judge, Jean-Juste, a possible candidate for president in fall elections, was in a cell with more than 20 people and said he feared for his life. "My enemies are trying to eliminate me," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
| "I gots millions o' enemies!" |
The priest has emerged as a leader of Aristide's Lavalas Family party, which has been accused by the interim government of stoking violence to push for the return of the former president, who was ousted following a bloody rebellion in 2004. |