Gressier (Haiti), July 2, 2024 [AlterPresse] — The Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince condemns the kidnapping of the Catholic Reverend Father Emmanuel Saintéliat, priest of the parish of Saint Jean Baptiste in the commune of Gressier (about thirty km south of Port-au-Prince), in a note dated July 1, 2024, which was seen by the online agency AlterPresse.
Saintéliat “had never abandoned the community for which he is responsible as pastor. He always makes himself available to serve each and every one,” underlines the note, signed by the Reverend Father Marc Henry Siméon, director of the communications service of the said institution.
The Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince protests against the assassination of several residents in Gressier and the attempted arson of the police station, while deploring the unspeakable acts of deadly violence that illegally armed men have committed and continue to commit in the commune.
Several defenseless residents of Gressier were shot dead in their homes by armed assailants and many others were forced to flee, according to harrowing accounts circulating on social media.
A public transport driver, providing the Jacmel (South-East)/Port-au-Prince route, was shot dead, then his body burned by these armed bandits, early on Monday, July 1, 2024.
Such acts, which deliberately undermine the rights of citizens, “testify to the fact that certain places in the metropolitan area of the capital, Port-au-Prince, still escape the control of public forces, but also to our passive imprisonment in the spiral of evil that is eating away at our society,” castigates the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince.
While demanding the immediate release of Reverend Father Emmanuel Saintéliat, the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince reminds state authorities of “the urgency of taking action to put an end to this situation of terror and violence and restore the right to life in the country.”
Saintéliat was abducted shortly after armed gang members again stormed the Gressier police station on Sunday, June 30, 2024, before ransacking it.
A forceful intervention, on the afternoon of Monday July 1, 2024, by a police task force from the Grand Sud allowed to regain control of the Gressier police station partially damaged by these bandits. [emb rc apr 02/07/2024 13:45]
