Monday will open in France, the trial of the Haitian gang leader Amaral Duclona, aka "Berthone Jolicoeur", 34, accused of the kidnapping, sequestration and the death of a Franco-Haitian entrepreneur, Claude Bernard Lauture, in 2004 in Port-au-Prince.

Remember that at that time "Berthone Jolicoeur" was the leader of a gang of "chimères", claiming to be with Aristide, in Cité Soleil. On 6 January 2004, businessman Claude Bernard Lauture was kidnapped by a group of armed men, a few hours later, in a phone call Claude Bernard Lauture says he will be released against payment of a ransom of 100,000 dollars, ransom that was never paid. On 7 January 2004, the bullet-riddled body of Mr. Lauture was found in Cité Soleil.

It is thanks to a cell phone found at the scene of the kidnapping, that the investigation will move forward, investigation initiated following the filing of a complaint in France, by the widow of Bernard Lauture. The investigation will reveal that the number of "Berthone Jolicoeur" was called 21 times on the day of the kidnapping. This phone was also used regularly to call the contact of Duclona to the Presidency (J-B Aristide at the time).

"Berthone Jolicoeur" found refuge in the Dominican Republic, a mare that lasted nearly 5 years before he was arrested in 2009. After having pleaded mistaken identity [he changed his identity], "Berthone Jolicoeur", minimizes its importance and denies any involvement in the facts alleged against him...

But for French prosecutors and investigators, who went three times on site, telephone investigations and testimony provide sufficient evidence for the prosecution. Me Olivier Morice, the lawyer of the widow of Claude Bernard Lauture estimated that there are in the folder "incriminating extremely serious [...] that he is by no means a lamplighter, but a Gang leader extremely dangerous."

"Berthone Jolicoeur" was extradited in 2009, as part of an investigation into the abduction and murder of Henri Paul Mourral, a former honorary consul of France in Haiti. The trial should last a week and "Berthone Jolicoeur" risk life imprisonment.

SL/ HaitiLibre