Haitian journalist Garry Tesse was on his way to work at a local radio station in the southern city of Les Cayes when he disappeared shortly after exiting a taxi. His naked and disfigured corpse was found six days later, sparking outrage and street protests.
But the investigation into the October 2022 murder of the popular 39-year-old radio journalist has languished, leading his family and friends to accuse the government of a cover-up to protect the man in charge of prosecuting the crime, Ronald Richemond. Tesse had gone on his radio show to accuse Richemond, an influential local prosecutor and political appointee, of plotting to have him killed weeks before the murder. Now, a former member of Richemond’s security team has provided new details on the alleged plot.
Three days after Tesse’s dead body was discovered, Richemond issued a video statement on Facebook in which he rejected the accusations against him, and to date, Richemond has not been charged with any crime. But his controversial handling of the case, which involved the arrest of another local journalist, has led to calls for a full investigation from local media organizations and the country’s public ombudsman.
“This case must be resolved as soon as possible. A message urgently needs to be sent to prevent this chronic impunity from triggering more crimes against journalists,” said Guy Delva, president of Haitian group SOS Journalistes, who has investigated the case.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the British High Court’s Tuesday ruling, which could allow Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to contest his extradition to the United States.
According to the court’s decision, the U.S. government has three weeks to give assurances that Assange will be able to rely on First Amendment rights of the U.S. Constitution and to confirm whether he would be subjected to the death penalty. If the U.S. fails to provide proper assurances, Assange will be granted permission to appeal his extradition.
The next hearing is scheduled for May 20. The U.S. assurances must be filed by April 16, according to the court documents.
“We are glad that the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States will be delayed,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg, in New York. “His prosecution in the U.S. under the Espionage Act would have disastrous implications for press freedom.”
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