ARTICLE - KILLING OF SUSPECT IN POLICE CUSTODY

LAWYERS OF DEAD SUSPECT CALL FOR ARREST OF POLICE CHIEF AND 4 OFFICERS
(Defend Haiti) - AHP

PORT-AU-PRINCE - The lawyers for Serge "Isuzu" Démosthène have filed a complaint to the district judge against the Chief of the Pétion-Ville Police, Vanel Lacroix. Attorneys claim that the suspect in the Guiteau Toussaint murder case, Démosthènes, died after being beaten at the Pétion-Ville police station by officers of the law.

Attorney André Michel, says that his deceased client had no involvement with the murder of the Chairman of the National Bank of Credit (BNC), Guiteau Toussaint, as Chief Lacroix and other officers wanted to believe.

André Michel claims that Mr. Démosthène was arrested due to an ongoing gang conflict against an opponent who is a relative of Chief Lacroix. Démosthène's attorney says, after having been beaten and seeing that his client was near death, the chief and the arresting officers on Monday June 13, attempted to link his client to the murder of the BNC Chairman.

"It is false, false" replied Michel, requiring that justice be given for the relatives of his departed client.

André Michel also denounced the behavior of the Head of the Prosecutor's Office of Port-au-Prince, Commissioner Harricydas Augustus, for not having arrested the Chief of Police, Lacroix, after seeing that his client was pummeled to death while handcuffed.

According to Michel, "Chief Lacroix is creating a diversion that could lead to the true murderers of Chairman Toussaint and for this he should be prosecuted by the justice."

Another attorney for Démothène, Jean Claudet Lamour, denounced the conduct of the police and argued that the department must pay for their actions.

According to Lamour, the murder of Serge Démosthène is a maneuver which aims to prevent justice and shed light on the murder of Guiteau Toussaint.

On June 13, Commissioner Harricydas Auguste denied any involvement in the death of Serge Démosthène following accusations made against him by the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH).

Auguste admitted, however, to taking the time to examine "a very sick man, who could not even sit alone and had to be sent immediately to the hospital."

The General Inspectorate of the Police Nationale d'Haiti announced an autopsy to determine the exact circumstances in the death of Mr. Démosthène.

A note of the police institution also informed that the police officers involved were placed under monitoring.