All Catholic clerics kidnapped in Haiti in early April have been released, announced Friday, April 30, the Society of Priests of Saint-Jacques, to which they belong. “We found our confreres, the nuns and members of the family of Father Jean Anel Joseph in good health”, said the missionary institute in a statement, without specifying whether a ransom was paid.
A total of ten people were kidnapped on April 11. The group included four Haitian priests and a nun as well as two French from western France: Agnès Bordeau, 80, a sister from Mayenne and member of the Congregation of Providence de la Pommeraye, and Father Michel Briand. , 67, a priest from Ille-et-Vilaine who has lived in Haiti for over thirty years. Three people, members of the family of Haitian priest Jean Anel Joseph, had also been kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded $ 1 million (841,000 euros) in ransom.
A week ago, three religious had already been released in this country plagued by insecurity and criminal kidnappings.
Growing grip of armed gangs
The event, which shocked public opinion beyond the island’s borders, caused a deep political crisis in the country, plagued by an upsurge in kidnappings for ransom in recent months, in Port-au-Prince as in the provinces, testifying to the growing influence of armed gangs on Haitian territory.
The Catholic Church thus launched, a few days after the kidnapping, a strike call to denounce the inaction of the public authorities and “The dictatorship of kidnapping” in the country, according to the president of the Haitian Bishops’ Conference, Mr.gr Launey Saturné. Masses were celebrated and bells rang on April 15 throughout the territory in Catholic churches at exactly noon, in protest and to demand the release of the hostages.
“For some time now, we have seen the descent into hell of Haitian society”, had affirmed, in the aftermath of the tragedy, Mr.gr Max Leroy Mésidor, archbishop of the first Haitian city. “Public authorities who are doing nothing to resolve this crisis are not immune to all suspicion. We denounce complacency and complicity, wherever they come from ”, he added in a press release.
Faced with these criticisms, the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, announced on April 14 the resignation of the government and the appointment of a new prime minister, in order to tackle the acute problem of insecurity. . Mr. Moïse, the object of a strong wave of protest from the political opposition and a good part of the Haitian population, who demand his departure, is in his sixth prime minister appointed in four years of governance.
Corrigendum on April 30 at 2:40 p.m.: correction of an error on the number of people abducted on April 11.