(30 Nov 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 30 November 2023
1. Various of coup leader Guy Phillippe getting out of a van driven by armed military at the Central office of the Judicial Police of Haiti
2. Various of Phillippe's supporters chanting, police
3. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Jean Phillippe Lesage, supporter of Guy Phillippe:
“Today Guy Phillippe is getting back home. We ask that our chief be returned to us so that we can take him back to Jeremie where he will continue to work for the people. That is what brought us here today.”
4. Various of police outside the airport
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 3 March 2004
++4: 3++
5. Phillippe on balcony
6. Various of supporters cheering for Phillippe
7. Phillippe and others waving, supporters
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Corail, Haiti - 25 August 2016
8. Various of supporters chanting Phillippe's name as he tours village
9. Various of Phillippe being greeted by locals
STORYLINE:
Notorious coup leader Guy Philippe returned to Haiti on Thursday after the U.S. government repatriated him, sparking concerns that his presence could unleash further upheaval in a country already reeling from gang violence and political instability.
It wasn’t clear what role, if any, Philippe expected to play upon his return to Haiti, which is under siege by gangs that grew extremely powerful in the political vacuum created by the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Philippe arrived in the capital of Port-au-Prince on Thursday morning and taken on a bus with police escort to the headquarters of the Judicial police of Haiti where he was held for several hours.
A small group of supporters wearing T-shirts with Phillippe’s name jumped excitedly as they waited for the former rebel's arrival.
Philippe once served as police chief for the northern coastal city of Cap-Haitien and was later accused of masterminding attacks on police stations and other targets while in exile in the Dominican Republic.
He returned to Haiti in 2004 and led a band of rebels that captured Cap-Haitien as he joined an uprising that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Philippe was arrested in Haiti in January 2017 while participating in a live radio talk show.
He had recently been elected to Haiti’s Senate, and authorities whisked him quickly to the airport to avoid potential riots protesting his extradition to the U.S.
Shortly after his 2017 arrest, Philippe appeared before a federal judge in Miami to face decade-old U.S. drug charges including cocaine trafficking conspiracy and money laundering.
In June 2017, he was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge.
Authorities said that Philippe, a former high-ranking official with Haiti’s National Police, had used his position to provide protection for drug shipments in exchange for cash.
Officials said he acknowledged receiving up to $3.5 million in bribes.
Philippe was released from prison on Sept. 7, according to court documents.
In the weeks that followed, Haitians in and near his former stronghold organized protests, blocked roads and demanded that the government provide Philippe travel documents so he could return to his native country.
AP Video by Pierre Luxama
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