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Thousands follow ex-Haiti president after court

Wednesday - 5/8/2013, 7:19pm  ET

Supporters of Haiti's former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide hold up pictures of him as they gather around Aristide's car who leaves the courthouse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The two-time president showed up at the courthouse to testify before a judge investigating the 2000 slaying of Jean Dominique, one of the Caribbean country's most prominent journalists. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide made a rare public appearance Wednesday and thousands of supporters shadowed the ex-leader's motorcade following a court hearing.

The swelling crowd of backers who chanted songs and waved posters of Aristide in Haiti's capital pointed to the level of influence the two-time president still holds among the poor more than two years after his sudden return from exile.

It also underscored the strong possibility that his political party could prove a serious contender in legislative elections that are supposed to be held before year's end.

"For the people, the wasps have been knocked out of the nest," said Jean Altidor, a 39-year-old motorcycle driver who had a portrait of Aristide taped to his bike. In his metaphor, Aristide is the nest, and the people are the wasps.

With a delegation of longtime allies and former lawmakers at his side, Aristide showed up at a courthouse Wednesday morning in downtown Port-au-Prince to testify before a judge investigating the slaying of one of the Caribbean country's most prominent journalists, Jean Dominique. The hearing was closed to the public.

Aristide left the crowded courthouse through a back exit three hours later. In an apparent ploy to distract journalists and make it easier for the former president to leave, news media were told to assemble in a nearby room for a news conference with Aristide, which was never held.


Aristide was between terms as president when Dominique, a close friend, was gunned down in April 2000 in the courtyard of the radio station that he ran with his wife. A security guard was also killed.

Several people were arrested in connection with the slaying of the outspoken radio personality, but authorities have never pointed to possible architects of the killing.



"The population clearly said it's not a protest -- it's a march accompanying President Aristide," Maryse Narcisse, a spokeswoman for his political party, told Radio Kiskeya.

Instead of taking a direct route home, the caravan snaked through the capital's poorer neighborhoods as onlookers tried to get a glimpse of Aristide. The crowds grew, and in the hilltop shantytown of Bel-Air, Aristide stood atop his vehicle and waved to supporters.






There was no immediate comment by the Martelly administration.


He returned to Haiti in 2011 following exile in South Africa.


Associated Press writer Evens Sanon contributed to this report.
