Police arrest another gang member suspected in Jacques Roche murder

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the arrest of Wensley Boshomme, a gang member also known as “Zachary Occeda” and “Bertold,” who is suspected of participating in the July 2005 murder of Jacques Roche, the head of the arts and culture section of the daily Le Matin. Boshomme was arrested in a joint operation by police and members of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (Minustah) on 8 October in Port-au-Prince. The police said the available evidence about Roche's kidnapping and execution-style murder would suffice to establish Boshomme's participation. Boshomme, who escaped from the national penitentiary on 19 February 2005, is reputed to be a member of a gang that was led by Junior “Yoyo Piman” Acdhély, who was killed in a clash with Minustah peacekeepers last June. The gang was based in the slum neighbourhood of Cité Soleil, where Boshomme was arrested. Roche was abducted as he was driving through the Nazon district of Port-au-Prince on 10 July 2005. Despite negotiations with his family, in which the kidnappers demanded a ransom, his body was found four days later. Two gang members, Alby Joseph and Chéry Beaubrun, received life sentences on 30 August of this year for their part in his abduction and murder. Three other persons being held for “illegal possession of firearms” are also suspected of involvement. ---- 31.08 - Two men get life for Jacques Roche murder in sign of justice finally moving into action
Reporters Without Borders welcomes the life sentences which a Port-au-Prince court yesterday passed on two men, Alby Joseph and Chéry Beaubrun, for the abduction and murder of Jacques Roche, the head of the Le Matin newspaper's arts and culture pages. Roche was kidnapped on 10 July 2005 and was found dead four days later. Joseph, 22, a gang member based in the Port-au-Prince slum district of Solino, was found guilty of killing Roche. Beaubrun was found guilty of receiving money to guard him while he was held hostage. They were sentenced to forced labour for life under a May 2005 decree. Their conviction came 20 days after an independent commission to support investigations into murders of journalists was created on the initiative of President René Préval and SOS Journalistes, an NGO. The commission was installed in the presence of UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon's spokesperson, Michèle Montas, who is the widow of Jean Dominique, a radio journalists murdered in April 2000. Dominique's killers have not been caught. “We are relieved that justice has finally been rendered in the Roche case,” Reporters Without Borders said. “This conviction and the creation of the commission on 10 August are positive signs of a desire by the political and judicial authorities to start combatting impunity. The other participants in Roche's abduction who are still at large must also be brought to trial.” An arts and culture columnist and Creole-language poet, Roche was abducted as he was driving through the Nazon district of Port-au-Prince. Despite intense negotiations with the family, in which the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 250,000 dollars, his handcuffed body was finally found four days later, bearing the marks of torture and bullet wounds. Joseph named three other persons, former Solino gang boss François “Bibi” Daniel, Dérosiers “Tiyabout” Becker and someone identified only as “Gaetan” as accomplices to Roche's abduction and murder. All three are currently detained for possession of firearms. Gérard Jean Juste, a Catholic priest and close political ally of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was also a suspect. He was arrested on 22 July 2005 but was eventually released for health reasons and was allowed to travel to the United States to receive treatment. He returned to Haiti at the start of this month. Several other suspects were arrested in August 2005 but have not yet been tried.