Judges’ security boosted for assassination inquiry
PORTAUPRINCE, Haiti — Haitian authorities have secured armed guards to bolster security for court personnel as they prepare to announce the judge who will oversee proceedings involving the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
Magistrate Bernard SaintVil, who is dean of the Court of First Instance in PortauPrince, said some judges he recently contacted about the case had told him they were worried about their safety.
He said he is not obligated to take such concerns into consideration as he decides who will be assigned the case, saying that “the first characteristic of a magistrate is courage, because a judge is called upon to make decisions.”
But SaintVil added that officials recognize additional security measures are needed since some judicial officials have already gone into hiding amid death threats. Court clerks have reported receiving threatening demands that they revise names and other details in reports on the July 7 attack that killed Moise and seriously wounded his wife.
“We demanded that these means be available because even before choosing the judge, we must check that everything is in place,” SaintVil said after meeting privately with several judges.
The boost in security that he requested comes amid concerns over the wellbeing of suspects in the case who have been transferred from police holding cells to a prison where conditions have been likened to torture by the United Nations and where thousands of inmates remain held for years without so much as a court hearing, let alone a trial.
“The conditions of detention are generally appalling,” defense attorney Samuel Madistin told the Associated Press. “I hope everything will be done to allow justice to do its job.”
Madistin represents two of the more than 40 suspects detained in the assassination case. He said that he had not been allowed to meet with his clients and that one of them, Reynaldo Corvington, is diabetic and has high blood pressure.
“There are judges who have refused to take the case. Pretrial detention is likely to be prolonged,” Madistin said.