Lawyer says Haitian priest targeted for advocacy for poor

Published: 2005-07-28

WORCESTER, Mass. (CNS) -- The U.S. lawyer for a Haitian priest arrested in the killing of a prominent journalist said the priest is being targeted because he is an ally of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and an advocate for human rights. Father Gerard Jean-Juste was arrested July 21 in connection with the death of Jacques Roche, said Bill Quigley, the priest's defense attorney. However, the chief government prosecutor said a decision had not been made on whether to charge Father Jean-Juste, The Associated Press reported. "Father Jean-Juste has been described by insiders as 'the most dangerous man in Haiti' because of his uncompromising advocacy for the poor, for human rights, for the release of political prisoners and for the return of the elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide," Quigley, a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, wrote in an e-mail interview.

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