Jamaicans in Haiti say they are being neglected by Government
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) – A number of Jamaicans arrested on drug- and gun-related charges since last year, say they feel neglected by the administration in their homeland.
The 20 Jamaicans arrested in the southern town of Les Cayes have denied any involvement in drug trafficking and have all claimed to be innocent victims.
“I got arrested but they did not find anything on me,” Kenny Burton, 31, told the local Haitian website, HCNN.
“They found drug in the area where I was and they blamed it on us,” said Burton who was arrested on the 7th of July last year together with another Jamaican colleague.
A group of 15 Jamaicans had been arrested in recent times in operations supported by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), while five others were apprehended by the end of last year during a police crackdown near the town of Aquin.
The Jamaicans remain in preventive custody while their cases are being studied by an investigative judge who will decide who should be released.
But Winston Richards, detained since August 18, 2012, said since his arrest he has not had the services of an attorney.
“We don’t speak the Creole language and our (Jamaican) government is not saying anything about our situation here,” Richards told the Haitian website.”We are Caribbean people, we are just trying to move around, man,” he said.
A prosecutor in Les Cayes, Joubert Amazan, said his office provides mandatory and free legal assistance to the Jamaicans who do not have lawyers.
“Some have a chance to be released, but some others are very deeply involved in illegal activities. Some have a lawyer, but for those who don’t have one we commit a lawyer through the Bar Association,” he said.
Samantha Scarlett, the reputed wife of one of those held in prison has called on the Jamaican Government to intervene to make sure the case of her husband, Michael Dennis, as well as those of other detained fellow Jamaicans have the benefit of a fair judicial process.
“I think the Jamaican Government should do something because there are Jamaican citizens who are in a very difficult situation in Haiti.
“We need him to come back home and we have a 16-year-old daughter who is so affected by the situation,” she told the HCNN.
Relatives of the detained Jamaicans say they are also concerned about the fairness of the judicial process in Haiti.
HCNN reported that a judge a few months ago, released three Jamaicans — Mark Reid, Fenton Johnson and Mark Pitt – and two Cubans, Juan Rafael Hidalgo and Alexis Leyva Moreno — for lack of evidence after being held on drug charges for several months.
[9:10:22 AM] Patrick Foster: Jamaicans in Haiti say they are being neglected by Government
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) – A number of Jamaicans arrested on drug- and gun-related charges since last year, say they feel neglected by the administration in their homeland.
The 20 Jamaicans arrested in the southern town of Les Cayes have denied any involvement in drug trafficking and have all claimed to be innocent victims.
“I got arrested but they did not find anything on me,” Kenny Burton, 31, told the local Haitian website, HCNN.
“They found drug in the area where I was and they blamed it on us,” said Burton who was arrested on the 7th of July last year together with another Jamaican colleague.
A group of 15 Jamaicans had been arrested in recent times in operations supported by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), while five others were apprehended by the end of last year during a police crackdown near the town of Aquin.
The Jamaicans remain in preventive custody while their cases are being studied by an investigative judge who will decide who should be released.
But Winston Richards, detained since August 18, 2012, said since his arrest he has not had the services of an attorney.
“We don’t speak the Creole language and our (Jamaican) government is not saying anything about our situation here,” Richards told the Haitian website.”We are Caribbean people, we are just trying to move around, man,” he said.
A prosecutor in Les Cayes, Joubert Amazan, said his office provides mandatory and free legal assistance to the Jamaicans who do not have lawyers.
“Some have a chance to be released, but some others are very deeply involved in illegal activities. Some have a lawyer, but for those who don’t have one we commit a lawyer through the Bar Association,” he said.
Samantha Scarlett, the reputed wife of one of those held in prison has called on the Jamaican Government to intervene to make sure the case of her husband, Michael Dennis, as well as those of other detained fellow Jamaicans have the benefit of a fair judicial process.
“I think the Jamaican Government should do something because there are Jamaican citizens who are in a very difficult situation in Haiti.
“We need him to come back home and we have a 16-year-old daughter who is so affected by the situation,” she told the HCNN.
Relatives of the detained Jamaicans say they are also concerned about the fairness of the judicial process in Haiti.
HCNN reported that a judge a few months ago, released three Jamaicans — Mark Reid, Fenton Johnson and Mark Pitt – and two Cubans, Juan Rafael Hidalgo and Alexis Leyva Moreno — for lack of evidence after being held on drug charges for several months.
