In Port-au-Prince, radio host wounded in drive-by shooting

New York, February 9, 2005—A Haitian radio reporter was wounded in the arm in a drive-by shooting in front of the station’s studios in the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Friday. Raoul Saint-Louis, a reporter with the private station Radio Megastar, has since moved from his home in fear for his life, The Associated Press reported.

“We condemn this attack against Raoul Saint-Louis and call on Haitian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to bring those responsible to justice,” Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said today.

Gunmen firing from a moving vehicle shot Saint-Louis, co-host of a news show, as he was standing in front of Megastar studios minutes before his broadcast was to begin, Guyler Delva, secretary-general of the Haitian Journalists Association, told CPJ in a telephone interview.

Saint-Louis, who was with his wife and a colleague at the time, was taken to a local hospital where he received treatment for his wounds. Saint-Louis said he recently received telephone threats after criticizing Haiti’s transitional government for failing to crack down on corruption, the AP reported. Government officials have criticized Megastar for giving airtime to shantytown residents, Delva said.