On Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Delmas 43, the police sequestered political activist Marcelin Myrthil under the pretext that he was on the run.
By Isabelle Papillon, Haiti Liberté, July 10, 2024
It was under the reign of the criminal Prime Minister Ariel Henry, that then Port-au-Prince Government Commissioner Edler Guillaume issued an arrest warrant for political activist Myrthil Marcelin alias "Nèg Arab la". He was accused of crimes against state security because he denounced the de facto regime of Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the armed groups who terrorized the population through the kidnapping and extortion.
Myrthil dedication to the struggle of the masses was demonstrated when he delivered machetes to working-class neighborhoods so residents could organize themselves into vigilance brigades.
Myrthil was arrested while paying a courtesy visit to the town of Les Cayes to show solidarity with a family of a victim of police violence. A member of the family - young boy, was fatally shot in his home. Armed men from the Délégué Départemental du Sud led by Ketnor Estinvil from the commune of Les Cayes, had arrested him on the morning of Monday February 12, 2024, on the orders of the Commissaire du Gouvernement des Cayes, Me Ronald Richemond.
This arrest was quickly rejected by the population. They mobilized and declared to Commissioner Guillaume "you'll see between the skin of the bell pepper and the stone, which is more pungent. We demand the swift release of activist Myrthil alias Arab. The police are only effective when they persecute opponents of Ariel's criminal regime". His lawyer at the time, Me Arnel Rémy, denounced: "the illegal arrest of political activist Myrthil Marcelin, alias Arab, detained in the civil prison in Les Cayes".
The fierce opponent of the PHTK (version 3) regime was transferred by the chief prosecutor of this jurisdiction to the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince a few days later.
What was "Nèg Arab la" accused of that led to his imprisonment in the penitentiary?
Simply put, he consistently denounced Ariel Henry's regime when speaking to journalists and on social media! Myrthil had taken it upon himself to travel to several of the country's provinces to show that Jovenel Moïse's achievements were being abandoned by the current government. His action reinforced the population's conviction that Prime Minister Ariel Henry's regime was serving foreign interests and had abandoned everything that the assassinated president had undertaken.
For example, the Marion dam project was abandoned, and the Carrefour power plant has been abandoned. Only the Canal de la Rivière Massacre irrigation project was finalized, because the people had reclaimed it despite threats and boycotts by the government of Ariel Henry.
Recall that following the overthrow of Ariel Henry on February 29, 2024, the Penitentiary prison was emptied of its prisoners on the night of Saturday March 2, 2024, the majority of whom had been illegally imprisoned if not for a simple altercation or petty theft. And yet those who looted the state were never arrested, and the criminal gangs that kidnap and terrorize the population did not have to worry.
Like many others that day, Mythril was released from prison.
He was a political prisoner of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Like so many others, he was illegally detained and never convicted of a crime.
It was on the orders of new police chief Rameau Normil that Mythril was arrested again. On Sunday July 7, 2024, in Delmas 43, the police detained him under the pretext that he was on the run. But what was he guilty of? Why are the police so intent on repressing the innocent and unable to do anything about the armed groups?
While the armed groups that helped the prisoners escape are living together peacefully, some of these escaped prisoners have been murdered by the police. Is this not proof of the cowardice of this tamed police force against the popular masses?
The Acting Director General of the Haitian National Police (PNH), Normil Rameau, also wants to show that there is no difference between him and his predecessor Frantz Elbé, insofar as they serve the same criminal power.
In other words, Ariel Henry and Garry Conille are fighting the same battle against political activists!
Translated by CHIP editors
Posted July 28, 2024