PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP):
A JAILED Catholic priest who had been considered a potential presidential candidate may have cancer and should be released immediately to seek medical treatment in the United States, one of his lawyers said yesterday.
The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, a supporter of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has declined an examination by government doctors because he doesn't trust them, attorney Bill Quigley told reporters at a news conference outside the jailed priest's church in the capital.
Dr. John Carroll, a supporter who examined Jean-Juste in jail, said the priest has swelling in his neck and under his arms and an abnormal white blood cell count, which are possible indications of cancer or an infection.
"Every day that goes by, we are wasting time," Carroll said. "If this is indeed cancer, his life is in danger."
Jean-Juste has been jailed since July on suspicion of involvement in the abduction and slaying of a well-known local journalist. Authorities later expanded the investigation to include alleged weapons violations. The priest denies the allegations.
The investigating magistrate, Jean Perez-Paul, said he will soon forward his recommendations to a government prosecutor, but declined to disclose the findings of the investigation.
Jean-Juste, who has been compared to Aristide, a former priest, has emerged as a prominent figure in the ousted president's Lavalas Family Party.
Lavalas party activists had attempted to register Jean-Juste as a presidential candidate,š but Haitian authorities ruled he could not be on the ballot because he is in prison and could not appear in person at the electoral office to register his candidacy.
