A new kidnapping attempt caused panic on Friday May 15 in the ’ afternoon at Delmas 40B. Contacted by the editorial staff of Vant Bèf Info (VBI), lawyer Jean jonel joseph, registered with the Port-au-Prince Bar, claims to have narrowly escaped a kidnapping orchestrated by heavily armed men presenting themselves as agents of the DCPJ.
According to reports, the events occurred around 5 p.m., while the lawyer was in a traffic jam with his wife and children, who had just returned from school.
Four armed individuals, traveling in a private white Toyota vehicle, registered AA-69288, allegedly intercepted Me Jean Jonel Joseph. The suspects, dressed in civilian clothes but wearing bulletproof vests bearing the inscription “DCPJ”, allegedly pointed their weapons in the direction of the lawyer before seizing the vehicle’s papers as well as the driver’s license.
Still according to the victim’s account, the noisy intervention of local residents and passers-by forced the attackers to flee with the documents.
Questions surrounding the use of police uniforms
This incident caused heated throats around the use of equipment and uniforms of the Haitian National Police (PNH) in criminal acts. For several months, several cases of abuses have reportedly been committed by individuals posing as police officers in the alleged context of operations against organized crime.
Faced with this situation, some observers are wondering about the measures envisaged by the state authorities and the high command of the PNH to curb this worrying phenomenon.
A call for support from the Bar
Me Jonel Jean-Joseph is now seeking the support of the Port-au-Prince Bar as well as that of his fellow lawyers in order to identify the perpetrators of this kidnapping attempt and recover the documents taken by the suspects. The case has already been entrusted to a lawyer well known in the Haitian legal community.
Haiti: Insécurité : Me Jean jonel joseph échappe de justesse à une tentative d’enlèvement à Delmas
