ARTICLE - MARTELLY ADVISOR - MURDER ACCUSATION

AN ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT MARTELLY ACCUSED OF MURDER
(Defend Haiti) -

FONDS-PARISIEN - Family members of Octanol Dérissaint, a resident of the border area of Fond Parisien (west), have accused an advisor of President Michel Martelly, Calixte Valentin, of having murdered Wednesday night, the 32 year old salesman, during an altercation...

Denouncing on Radio Kiskeya what they called a heinous crime, the victim's relatives demand that the alleged murderer be brought before competent judicial authorities, and call on the head of state to remove him without delay, from his staff.

Rejecting the hypothesis of a reckoning between the two men, the family of Octanol Dérissaint emphasize that there was no relationship between the deceased and the advisor to the President.

Shot in the head, the vendor, who sold food at the Haitian-Dominican border, left behind two children, including a baby of three months.

For his part, Sanozier Francois, MP for the Verrettes-Ganthier constituency, of which depends Fond Parisien, condemned the murder, and demanded justice for the victim. He argues that the judiciary must put the alleged offender out of harm's way.

Deeply outraged after the incident, many residents of Fond Parisien had threatened to burn down the village if Calixte Valentin was not put behind bars.

If the story as presented is confirmed, the case could become a new blast for Martelly’s administration already entangled in a series of scandals.