Faced with the inaction of the authorities, Pierre-Louis Opont’s family is appealing to the kidnappers’ conscience to obtain his release.
Suffering from serious health problems, Pierre-Louis Opont has been unable to take the medication he needs for his next medical procedure since his kidnapping on June 20. This situation is of the utmost concern to his family, who are increasingly frustrated by the thugs’ refusal to release the former president of the Provisional Electoral Council.
In a press release dated July 7, Pierre-Louis Opont’s wife Marie-Lucie Bonhomme and other members of his family launched “an urgent appeal to the thugs to release the former president of the CEP”.
“Pierre-Louis Opont’s situation is worrying, as his health requires daily medication to which he has had no access for three long weeks”, writes Marie Lucie Bonhomme, imploring the kidnappers to show humanity by releasing her husband. We are deeply concerned for his health and his life”, she adds.
Distraught, Mr. Opont’s family is trying alone to negotiate with the criminals, who so far show no intention of freeing the former president of the Provisional Electoral Council.
As in the case of the other abductees, the government authorities do not seem to have the will to facilitate the release of Pierre-Louis Opont. They are too preoccupied with securing their own position.
In an interview with RSF’s Yvener Foster Joseph several months ago, Justice Minister Emmelie Prophète urged the population to take responsibility for their own security.
A week before the kidnapping of Pierre-Louis Opont, his wife, Radio Vision 2000 and Télé Pluriel star journalist Marie Lucie Bonhomme, was abducted from her home at 3 a.m. by some thirty heavily armed members of the Vitelhomme gang, who also ransacked the house. She was released a few hours later.
After his mandate at the head of the Provisional Electoral Council, Pierre-Louis Opont had decided to remain in his country, perhaps hoping that the security situation would improve. However, this was without taking into account the government’s inability to provide the population with the minimum necessities of life.
Several countries, including the United States and Canada, have published the names of several individuals accused of contributing to insecurity in Haiti, but no action has been taken by the de facto government to initiate legal proceedings against these powerful suppliers of arms and ammunition to armed gangs.