(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has welcomed the arrest of four individuals suspected of killing radio journalist Brignol Lindor, of Radio Echo 2000, on the eve of a trial set to begin on 3 December 2007, six years to the day after he was hacked to death in the southwestern town of Petit-Goâve. Six other suspects ordered […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has welcomed the arrest of four individuals suspected of killing radio journalist Brignol Lindor, of Radio Echo 2000, on the eve of a trial set to begin on 3 December 2007, six years to the day after he was hacked to death in the southwestern town of Petit-Goâve. Six other suspects ordered arrested early this month remain at large. RSF regretted such last-minute moves and warned against a hasty trial that might gloss over the responsibility of certain people for Brignol’s death.
“This murder is one of the most barbarous killings of a journalist ever seen in the Americas and the arrest for the first time of four of the 10 long-accused members of the Domi Nan Bwa (“Sleep in the Woods”) militia, as well as the upcoming trial, gives hope that impunity in this disgraceful crime may end,” it said. “But why has it taken so long for these locally well-known people to be picked up? The trial must determine exactly who was responsible for the murder. The short time remaining before the trial raises the danger that it may be hurried, sham or flawed, which must be avoided at all cost.”
Petit-Goâve public prosecutor Kerby Zamor told RSF on 14 November 2007 he had issued warrants for the arrest of 10 Domi Nan Bwa members who were charged on 16 September 2002.
Two of the accused were arrested and jailed in late October, bringing the number detained to four: Fritz Doudoute (held in Carrefour, west of the capital), Joubert Saint-Juste (held in Port-au-Prince) and Simon Cétoute and Jean-Rémy Démosthène (both held in Petit-Goâve).
