PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- A jailed Catholic priest who
was suspended from his religious duties for political
activities appealed Wednesday to church authorities to
reverse a punishment that supporters claim was intended
to halt his growing influence in the Western
Hemisphere's poorest nation.
In a letter from jail, the Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste
challenged the suspension imposed by the Archdiocese of
Port-au-Prince after activists in the party of former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide attempted to register
the priest as a presidential candidate for the Nov. 20
elections.
``Since I am not a candidate for the election for
president I should be able to continue my service as a
priest,'' Jean-Juste said in a letter dictated to Bill
Quigley, a law professor at Loyola University of New
Orleans who is part of his legal team.
Haitian authorities ruled that because Jean-Juste is
in jail, and could not register, he could not be a
candidate in the first elections since Aristide departed
the country during a violent rebellion in February 2004.
``He knows that if he decides to run for president
and qualifies that he has to be above his priestly
duties, but he has not done that,'' Quigley said at a
news conference.
Jean-Juste was jailed in July on suspicion of
involvement in the abduction and slaying of a well-known
local journalist, Jacques Roche. Authorities have since
expanded the investigation to include alleged weapons
violations.
The priest, who was in Miami when Roche was
kidnapped, has denied the allegations.
Jean-Juste, who has drawn comparisons to Aristide for
his impassioned sermons and advocacy for the poor, has
emerged as a prominent figure in Aristide's Lavalas
Family party, which remains a potent political force in
Haiti.
Amnesty International said in July that Jean-Juste
was detained ``solely because he has peacefully
exercised his right to freedom of expression'' and
should be considered a prisoner of conscience.
During a one-day visit to Haiti on Tuesday, U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cited the Jean-Juste
case, along with that of jailed former Prime Minister
Yvon Neptune, as examples in which the government should
improve its justice system.
``Justice has to come in a timely fashion, and it
should not be the case that anyone can interpret that
there is some kind of political motive here,'' Rice
said.
