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Prominent Catholic priest, Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, jailed in Haiti collapses in cell
A prominent Catholic priest who has been jailed for nearly a month collapsed in his cell and had to receive medical treatment, his lawyer said Tuesday.
The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, a prominent figure in the party of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and a possible presidential candidate, passed out for 20 minutes Sunday at Haiti's National Penitentiary, Bill Quigley, Jean-Juste's American lawyer, told reporters.
Quigley said Jean-Juste had been sweating profusely before collapsing in his cell, which the lawyer described as hot and dirty.
Several other inmates carried Jean-Juste to the prison infirmary, where he was treated for an unknown ailment, Quigley said.
Quigley said he visited the 57-year-old priest earlier Tuesday and found him "very weakened." He produced a letter from Jean-Juste, in which the priest said he almost died from the incident, without giving details.
"I almost died Sunday morning. I fell unconscious for some time but was rescued when some of the other prisoners took me on their backs to the dispensary," the letter said.
Jean-Juste, once as prominent in the Haitian community in South Florida before he returned home, was detained July 21 as he tried to attend the funeral of slain journalist Jacques Roche. He was mobbed by protesters who accused the priest of involvement in the killing. Police said he was detained because of the "public clamor" for his arrest by the angry demonstrators.
The director of Haiti's National Penitentiary, Voltaire Spady, said he had no report of Jean-Juste collapsing.
"Not even the dispensary has sent me a report, so I consider all this to be untrue," Spady said in a telephone interview.
He acknowledged Jean-Juste's cell might be hot, but insisted the priest's living conditions were better than most other inmates.
Police say they're investigating Jean-Juste for weapons possession, kidnapping and murder, but have yet to charge him with a crime.
The priest, who was in the United States when Roche was kidnapped in Port-au-Prince on July 10, has denied any connection to the abduction and slaying.
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BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles [at] herald.com
A former Miami priest jailed in Haiti is weak and needs medical help but was in good spirits two days after collapsing in his prison cell, said a U.S. lawyer who visited him Tuesday.
The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, who led Haitian community groups in Miami before he moved to his native country, lost consciousness on Sunday for about 20 minutes in his tiny cell, said Loyola University professor Bill Quigley.
''He told me he thought he almost died on Sunday,'' said Quigley, who is working with Jean-Juste's Haitian lawyers to secure his release.
''He's sick, there is no doubt about it,'' Quigley said. ``There is something [wrong] with him, and I think it's very serious when a man near 60 is kept in an incredibly hot area, loses consciousness and does not get adequate medical attention.''
The Catholic priest collapsed in his cell, about eight feet by two feet, at the National Penitentiary. Prisoners carried him on their backs to the infirmary, Quigley said by phone from Port-au-Prince.
Jean-Juste was detained July 21 amid allegations of involvement in the murder of a Haitian journalist. It is the second time Jean-Juste has been arrested since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled into exile early last year. Jean-Juste is a prominent Aristide supporter and still calls for his return to Haiti.
Quigley said that during his 30-minute visit Tuesday in the warden's office, he noticed Jean-Juste had lost 15 to 20 pounds even though his parishioners bring him food every day. The priest complained about skin rashes, and pain in his neck, arms and legs.
He said Jean-Juste sleeps on a one-inch thick rubber mat in the ''extremely hot'' and ''smelly'' cell he shares with another prisoner.
Quigley, accompanying the priest when he was arrested, said no official charges have been filed against him.
Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, in Miami on Wednesday for knee surgery, directed Herald inquiries to the justice ministry. It could not be reached for comment.
A letter-writing campaign by several groups, including 29 in the U.S. Congress, has failed to win Jean-Juste's release. In a reply dictated to Quigley, Jean-Juste thanked his supporters saying, ``I read the letter and you are so strong and clear. Well said! I wish our church leaders were so strong and clear.''
Church leaders in Haiti have said little of his arrest.
Lavarice Gaudin, a member of Miami's pro-Aristide watchdog group Veye Yo, said Jean-Juste was arrested because he is viewed as a possible candidate in Haiti's Nov. 6 presidential elections: ``That's the big thing behind it.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12412234.htm