**Updates IFEX alert of 4 April 2000** (CPJ/IFEX) – In a 4 April 2000 letter to President René Préval, CPJ expressed its deep sorrow over the recent assassination of Jean Léopold Dominique, owner and director of the independent station Radio Haïti Inter, and of the station’s security guard, Jean Claude Louissaint. CPJ called on President […]
**Updates IFEX alert of 4 April 2000**
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 4 April 2000 letter to President René Préval, CPJ expressed its deep sorrow over the recent assassination of Jean Léopold Dominique, owner and director of the independent station Radio Haïti Inter, and of the station’s security guard, Jean Claude Louissaint. CPJ called on President Préval to ensure that this heinous crime is investigated and its authors brought to justice.
Shortly after 6 a.m. (local time) on 3 April, Dominique arrived at Radio Haïti Inter to host the 7 a.m. news program, according to CPJ’s sources in Haiti. After Louissaint opened the gate to the station’s premises, which are located along the road from Port-au-Prince to the suburb of Pétionville, Dominique parked his car inside. As he was about to enter the radio station, a single gunman entered the compound on foot and shot him seven times.
The gunman then fired two shots at Louissaint before escaping in a Jeep Cherokee that had been waiting for him.
The assassin was apparently spotted near the station before Dominique’s arrival, although his weapon was not visible at that time. Minutes after the attack, Dominique’s wife, Michele Montas, arrived at the station in a separate car and found the wounded bodies of her husband and Louissaint. The police reached the scene before long and rushed both victims to the Haitian Community Hospital in Pétionville, where they died of their wounds.
Dominique, sixty-nine years old, was Haiti’s most prominent political journalist and a veteran advocate of free speech. He was also considered one of the president’s close political allies. The motive for his assassination is unclear at this time; as of the afternoon of 4 April, no arrests had been made. Meanwhile, Radio Haïti Inter has been closed down for an indefinite period.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– urging His Excellency to see to it that these murders are fully investigated
– asking him to immediately disseminate any additional information that authorities might uncover to the freedom of expression community
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:René Préval
President of Haiti
National Palace
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Fax: +509 223 7323Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
