CANCEL ARISTIDE’S HOUSE ARREST!! Former El Salvador leader Francisco Flores in police custody-Added COMMENTARY By Haitian-Truth

BBC.com

Former President Francisco Flores leaves court in San Salvador, 5 Sep 14 Mr Flores turned himself to a judge in the capital, San Salvador, on 5 September

Former El Salvador President Francisco Flores has been transferred to police custody, after a court in San Salvador revoked his house arrest.

Mr Flores has been charged with corruption, accused of misappropriating more than $15m (£9m) in aid money given by Taiwan.

The former president, who was in office between 1999 and 2004, denies the charges.

He handed himself in two weeks ago after four months on the run.

A judge in San Salvador put him under house arrest, which sparked demonstrations outside his home.

Hundreds of people gathered to demand that he be transferred to a prison.

Mr Flores, from the conservative Arena party, says the charges are politically motivated.

‘Renegade province’

He said that he had asked Taiwan for donations on three occasions.

The first time, he said, it was to help reconstruction efforts after two earthquakes killed about 1,500 people in 2001.

Anti-Flores protesters outside court in San Salvador Hundreds of people took to the streets earlier this month to demand that Mr Flores be transferred to jail

Another time he had asked Taiwan for help in combating drug trafficking, and a third donation was to fight crime and gangs, he explained.

El Salvador’s congress, as well as the attorney general, opened investigations against him.

His successor as president, Mauricio Funes, said the United States was investigating suspicious transfers into his bank accounts.

Another former Central American leader is facing an inquiry into his dealings with Taiwan.

Alfonso Portillo, president of Guatemala from 2000-2004, told a court in New York in March that he had accepted $2.5m (£1.5m) in bribes from Taiwan.

Portillo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money and agreed not to appeal against any prison sentence between four and six years.

He said he had taken the money in exchange for a promise that his country would continue to recognise Taiwan diplomatically while he was in office.

Guatemala and El Salvador are among the few countries in the world with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province.

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This same concept should be applied to Aristide who had the Taiwanese make out a check to Gladys Lauture, in 1991, and took $20,000,000 of Taiwan’s money – dedicated to another project , to create the road in Tabarre.

House Arrest unconstitutional – according to 6 Lavalas Senators – so cancel it a put Aristide behind bars, where he belongs!!

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3 thoughts on “CANCEL ARISTIDE’S HOUSE ARREST!! Former El Salvador leader Francisco Flores in police custody-Added COMMENTARY By Haitian-Truth

  1. It’s wishful thinking the same concept should be applied for Aristide. The two leaders mentioned don’t have the backing of the Governor of Haiti ” Slick Willy Bill Clinton “, Maxime Watters, the US Congressional Black Caucus. When it concerns Haiti “ARISTIDE IS OMNIPOTENT”!!!.

  2. Maxine should see what Pere LeBrun feels like- stinking pile of crap she is.

  3. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Supporters of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide rallied outside his home Saturday after a new unit of police officers was abruptly posted outside the walled compound in the capital amid fears that the ex-leader faces arrest for failing to heed a court summons.

    The officers, about 14 in all, are members of a special unit and have been assigned to monitor Aristide, police spokesman Frantz Lerebours told The Associated Press. He said there were no immediate plans to carry out an arrest warrant issued by a judge investigating a corruption case.

    The judge issued the warrant last month after Aristide did not show up in court to testify in an investigation into money laundering and corruption during his presidency. The former president’s lawyer has said the summons was not properly issued and asked the judge to reconsider the arrest warrant.

    Lerebours said the judge asked police to place Aristide under house arrest but there is no provision for house arrest under Haitian law. He said officers would instead monitor Aristide, who has rarely left his home since returning from exile in 2011. The spokesman said the new officers were brought in because they were better equipped and trained to conduct the monitoring than officers previously assigned to the task.

    About 200 supporters gathered outside the gates soon after the arrival of the new officers. They played drums and sang songs of support for Aristide, who remains popular in Haiti. Radio reports said there were demonstrations in other parts of the city as well.

    Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest who championed the poor and led the opposition to a brutal dictatorship, was Haiti’s first democratically elected president in 1990. He was toppled in a coup, then returned to power with U.S. assistance, but he was ousted again in 2004 during a violent rebellion.

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