The Tribune

FORMER Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is under house arrest in Port-au-Prince, according to a judge’s ruling on Tuesday.

Judge Lamarre Belizaire gave his decision after investigating allegations of corruption, money laundering and drugs smuggling blamed on the former leader and a number of his allies from when he led the Caribbean country between 2001 and 2004, judicial sources told the Haitian-Caribbean News Network (HCNN).

Aristide’s residence in the district of Tabarre will be surrounded by agents of the prison administration, APENA, while the perimeter will be guarded by agents of the Central Department of the Judicial Police (DCPJ), according to Judge Belizaire’s ruling.

The judge characterised the new ruling as part of precautionary measures to ensure that Aristide remains available for judicial authorities and that he can be brought to the judge’s office, as needed, to be interviewed.

After listing and citing a series of legal provisions to justify his decision, Belizaire concluded that Aristide will be put under house arrest. “For these reasons, (we) say and declare that the named Jean-Bertrand Aristide is under house arrest since force must remain with the law,” read the order, dated September 9, of which HCNN has obtained a copy.

“We order those responsible for the Prison Administration to take all necessary measures to secure the residence where the accused is found and to bring him before us, when required, in order to be interrogated on acts of money laundering and illicit drug trafficking blamed on him,” B�lizaire wrote in his order.

“We order consequently officials of the Central Department of the Judicial Police to secure the perimeter of the above-mentioned house,” the order, which was communicated to relevant authorities for further legal proceedings, concluded.

Judge Belizaire also decided that only he, as the magistrate in charge of the case, could now authorise persons, whatever their standing, to visit Aristide in his residence at Tabarre. The investigator said that the provisions of Article 77 of the criminal investigating code oblige the investigating magistrate to issue an arrest warrant against anyone who refuses to comply with the orders of the judge.

He explained that, for the proper conduct of the inquiry, the investigating judge must ensure the constant presence of the accused and must take “all conservatory measures in this regard”.

Aristide and dozens of his allies have been accused of having embezzled and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars from the public treasury between 2001 and 2004. Lawyers and allies of Aristide, denouncing them as political persecutions, flatly rejected the accusations.

However, spokespersons for the government, led by Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and the spokesman for President Michel Martelly, have denied any involvement of the executive in the case, which has been the subject of a criminal investigation since 2005, long before the coming to power in 2011 of current political leaders.

A judicial source told HCNN last week that the investigations being pursued against the former leader by Belizaire’s office are divided into three files, including one regarding charges of illicit drug trafficking and money laundering. The second file concerns the alleged misappropriation of public funds, while the third has to do with alleged extortion and bribery.