Security Crime Law and Order

Queens Kitchen Fire Kills three Haitians. On New Year's Eve 2014, at approximately 11:45 pm, a fire started at Le Frak City apartments in Queens. When firefighters arrived, the blaze was already out of control. Reinforcements were called, and a total of 105 firefighters fought the fire. On the ninth floor, firefighters beat back flames and thick, heavy smoke to access apartment 9C. Inside they encountered heavy smoke in the hallway, leading to the back bedrooms. There they found two of the victims, Louise Jean-Charles, 59, and husband, Napoleon Michel, 69. The third victim was discovered jammed between the front door and a wall, Nadia Donnay, 37. All three were pronounced dead at Elmhurst General and Forest Hills Long Island hospitals.

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Continuing to try to complete the installation of a Haitian defense force, the nation's leader, President Michel Martelly, labeled Haiti as one of the region's safest nations recently at the 69th General Assembly of the United Nations. He, along with his second-in-command, Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, spoke about the strides Haiti has made in regards to security, and that they would now see the withdrawal of the UN troops which have been a part of the country's fabric for years now.

Haiti's call for release cannot be viewed as premature. While the country has suffered from its share of political turmoil for decades, leading to unrest and the need for assistance from international sources, the past few years has seen the spreading of the country's wings in the training and formation of its own Defense Corps. According to the President, Haiti has already begun the process by training its corps, and it is now the time for the United Nations to fulfill their part with the rolling out of their MINUSTAH agents.

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Amended Penal Code to Strengthen Rule of Law. President Martelly presided over the opening of the Forum on Penal Policy of the Government. Minister of Justice and Public Safety Jean Sanon; President of the Court of Cassation Anel Joseph; Deputy Minister of Human Rights and Fight Against Extreme Poverty Marie Auguste; and senior officials, representatives, delegates, and institutions such as MINUSTAH, ProJustice, and Unit for Combating Corruption all attended.

The goal of the assizes, claimed Martelly, is to strengthen the rule of law, which he has made one of the top priorities of his presidency. He emphasized FPPG ". . . must update and better coordinate its sectoral public policies" With regard to the Ministry of Justice he explained its work must be systematized in coordination with a well-written penal code.

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Music promoter, Ewald Étienne, was gunned down last Thursday, December 17, 2014 in front of his home close to Maurice-Duplessis Blvd. in Montreal

Ewald Stephen who was 35 years old was also a cafe owner and bank employee. He has been described by many as a very kind and gentle person.

Haitian-born, Montreal-based show promoter Ewald Etienne became the 27th homicide victim for the city for the year when he was murdered in Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal. The victim, 35 years of age, sustained at least one gunshot to the upper body in the incident that took place on 63rd Avenue, outside of a home near Maurice-Duplessis Boulevard.

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Lucie Tondreau who was suspended as North Miami Mayor was found guilty by a federal jury today (December 16, 2014) of conspiring to commit wire fraud. She is accused of loan conspiracy with partner and fiancé Karl Oreste and others of a total of $11million between 2005 and 2008. According to the details, she allowed bogus loan applications to use their names in exchange for kickbacks

After a two weeks trial, it took the 12 member jury only two hours to find Lucie Tondreau guilty of conspiracy and wire-fraud charges

Lucie Tondreau was elected as the Mayor of North Miami in 2013. She was arrested immediately after the verdict. With this conviction, she is looking at spending up to 30 years in Federal prison.

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Haitian investigative Judge Lamarre Belizaire has made headlines once again this week after he issued a warrant for the arrest of André Michel. Michel, implicated in the 2010 murder of Frantzy Duverseau, has been called to appear before the criminal court along with his co-accused.

On October 18, 2010, Duverseau, a student, got in the middle of an altercation between his sister Fabienne Duverseau and her husband Enold Florestal. Their house was reportedly raided by a number of civilians and 4 officers of the law. In a bid to help his sister, Duverseau got into a fight with Florestal who walked away injured after a stone throwing incident. It is then said that Florestal, one of the accused, went away to return with backup in the form of André Michel, Josué Florestal and others.

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Controversial judge, Lamarre Bélizaire, continues to throttle forward with his investigation into the Aristide Administration, despite the recent alleged threat to his life following the report of gunshots near his home. Bélizaire has now issued a warrant for the arrest of the former Haitian president.

Bélizaire's determination to complete the investigation has given rise to accusations of bias from the counsel of Jean Bertrand Aristide, who filed a motion to have the judge removed from the case on those grounds. However, in a recent interview with Haitian-Caribbean News Network (HCNN), the judge told the press that, in light of the motion filed against former President Aristide, he had not revoked the warrant.

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Female Journalists Accuse RTNH Director General of Sexual Harassment. Freedom of the press organization, Reporters Without Borders (RWB), is demanding a comprehensive investigation of allegations made by two female journalists the director general of radio and TV station RTNH continually sexually harassed them, along with five other female employees. In a published letter sent to the Ministry of Culture and Women's Affairs, journalists Deborah Jean and Stephane Eveillard charged the director general with a campaign of sexual harassment targeted at nearly all the women employed by RTNH. The motive for the chronic sexual harassment was rejection by the women of the director general's suggestive comments and advances toward them. When the letter went public, Jean plus three of her colleagues were dismissed on the basis of defamation, insubordination, and smearing the reputation of the director general and the station, which is government-owned.

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Thirty-four prisoners managed to break Nissage saget jail in the city of Saint Marc just in time to do their holyday shopping. The report stated that the inmates managed to dig a hole on the prison wall.

Others reported that the prisoners crawled through a window and fled into the darkness.

Fears in certain regions of Haiti escalated at the start of the last month of 2014 when 34 prisoners escaped from the Saint Marc prison and fled into the night. The escapees, 4 of which were quickly recaptured, reportedly cut through their bars with saws to flee the over-crowded jail. Of the escaped was one person awaiting trial for a murder charge.

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National Police officials of Haiti, together with Côtes-de-fer authorities, have been working really hard in order to present a Sub-Police Station to the local community for two years now. The high commands of PNH South East in collaboration with the officials from the office for the regional Southeast of the UN Mission have advanced the foundation laying for the construction of the Sub-Police station in Gris Gris.

The building will comprise of a reception, post office, custody rooms (2) and a toilet block. 2.3 million gourdes has been set aside by the MINUSTAH for the construction, and it is anticipated that the construction will take 3 months.

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