In a note of condemnation bearing the signature of Bâttonière Marie Suzy Legros dated April 19 "The Council of the Bar Association of Port-au-Prince condemns in the strongest terms the assassination on Wednesday April 12 2023, of Me André Charleus, in Montrouis, in the zone Délugé https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39305-haiti-news-zapping.html [...] In these tragic circumstances that defy human understanding, the Council presents its sympathies to the parents of the deceased as well as to his friends and colleagues.

The Council notes, not without some dismay, the increasingly marked tendency among the protagonists of certain conflicts to take the path of violence, yielding to impulses of hatred, rather than relying on the decision of the courts [...]

Far from being an isolated event, this new act of barbarism lengthens the list of lawyers who have been victims of assassinations, kidnappings or attacks every year in recent months. The Council points out in particular the serious attacks on the person and the property of certain lawyers, including Me Jacques Miguel Sanon, former counselor of the Order, victim of a robbery in the enclosure of his home, which was vandalized, looted and is still occupied by criminals.

The Council would like to recall the essential role of the lawyer in assisting litigants and the importance of his presence in the context of carrying out a fair trial. To refuse to protect the lawyer in his function is to accept the precedence of arbitrariness, the system of expeditious justice and the reign of brutal force [...]"

IH/ iciHaiti