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Haiti frees sick priest for treatment in Miami

MIAMI - A politically influential Roman Catholic priest arrived in Miami on Sunday after Haiti's government granted him a temporary release from jail to be treated for leukemia and pneumonia.

The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste will be treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital, said Ira Kurzban, an attorney who has worked with the cleric for years.

He has been in prison on suspicion of involvement in the killing of prominent Haitian journalist and poet Jacques Roche. The 59-year-old priest denies the allegations.

Kurzban said Haiti buckled under public pressure to allow Jean-Juste to seek treatment in the United States.

"They certainly did not do this willingly and on their own," Kurzban said.

Amnesty International has labeled Jean-Juste, who supports ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, "a prisoner of conscience." He has drawn comparisons to Aristide for his impassioned sermons and advocacy for the poor and has emerged as a prominent figure in the ousted leader's Lavalas Family party.

The Haitian government granted Jean-Juste a provisional release from jail for humanitarian reasons, said Michel Brunache, chief of staff of interim President Boniface Alexandre.

"His leukemia cannot be treated in Haiti," Brunache said. "After his treatment, he has to return to face justice."

A judge cleared Jean-Juste of homicide, but he is charged with weapons possession and criminal conspiracy - charges that the priest denies.

The priest's supporters tried to register him as a presidential candidate last fall for the Feb. 7 elections, but authorities barred his candidacy because he was in prison.

[Last modified January 30, 2006, 00:33:11]