Posted on 08/17/2004 4:28:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - A jury acquitted former paramilitary leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain of murder charges Tuesday after a secretive trial that began in the middle of the night, angering human rights groups who blamed the country's U.S.-backed government.
Chamblain and co-defendent Jackson Joanis were acquitted just after dawn in the murder of Antoine Izmery, a former justice minister and financier of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, according to Stanley Gaston, an attorney for Chamblain.
Three witnesses were called during the one-day trial, and only one of them was for the prosecution, said Viles Alizar with the National Coalition for Haitian Rights.
"It is really terrible," Alizar said of the acquittal
There is nothing I can add that won't be construed as racist, because of the......fuhgeddabouditt.
background please for those of us who try but just can't keep up on everything. Thanks
Haiti Rebel Leader Wants to Kill Enemy Aristide
The gent killed was one of Aristside's folks who got caught up in the middle of chaos in Haiti a few years ago.
Chamblain is the rebel leader mentioned in the title used for the search results. Lots of background there threadwise.. ;-)
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