CHIEF PROSECUTOR RESIGNS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001163

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR
S/CRS
INL FOR KEVIN BROWN AND ANGELIC YOUNG
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS
DS/IP/WHA/OSAC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC
SUBJECT: CHIEF PROSECUTOR RESIGNS

REF: PORT AU PRINCE 1069

PORT AU PR 00001163 001.2 OF 003



1. (C) SUMMARY: Claudy Gassant made a surprise
announcement on August 12, publicly submitting his letter of
resignation as Chief Prosecutor. Gassant, whose professional
and personal behavior has become increasingly erratic and
occasionally and violent over the past several weeks, made
the announcement after a public row with the Petionville
Police Commander whom Gassant allegedly assaulted in recent
days. The details of the series of events that led to his
resignation remain unclear, but media rejoiced at the news of
his dramatic and sudden fall from grace. A master of
bizarre, flip-flop behavior, as Chief Prosecutor, Gassant has
often displayed the character of a responsible agent of the
state, deadly focused on helping the President in his
campaign against corruption. He has also served as a
cooperative interlocutor with several Embassy officers,
particularly in supporting the priorities of Consular and DEA
employees. While Gassant has at opportune times demonstrated
his ability to act as an effective Chief Prosecutor, his
actions have revealed a dark, unpredictable side that is
fueled by ego as much as by his sense of impunity as an
appointee of the Executive. He was officially replaced in a
ceremony by his Deputy on August 12. End summary.

HUMILIATES AIRPORT DG, ARRESTS THE BODY GUARD
--------------

2. (C) The first of a series of recent events that led to
Gassant's sudden resignation began with the humiliating
attempt to arrest Airport Director General Lionel Isaac in
early July (reftel). Several weeks later at a music festival
on July 27, after using his Chief Prosecutor title to gain
entry into the VIP area without an appropriate badge, a
heavily intoxicated Gassant began to verbally abuse the
unarmed security guards, hired by Metro Security, an Overseas
Security Advisory Council (OSAC) member company. Gassant
began belligerently asking the guards if they were ''Mario's
boys,'' referring to Haitian National Police (HNP) Director
General Mario Andresol. (Note: Claudy Gassant and Andresol
have feuded publicly for months and Gassant has openly spoken
of his ''hatred'' for Andresol. The Ministry of Justice also
employs Metro's guards in an official contract as Andresol's
security detail. End note.) After the guards replied they
were merely security guards for the evening's event, Gassant
began assaulting one of the body guards, then pulled out his
gun and jammed it into the ribs of another. A news reporter
on the scene captured his actions on camera and Gassant
snatched the camera away, breaking it. He turned to two CIMO
(HNP SWAT team) officers nearby and demanded they arrest
Fahed Esper, the Chief Executive of Metro Security. When the
officers refused, Gassant took Esper into custody himself and
hauled him off to the National Penitentiary where he remained
in custody for several days.


3. (C) An OSAC associate member (and Esper's nephew) called
RSO on August 2 to report that Gassant was on the warpath,
seeking to arrest anyone from Metro Security that he could
find. He ordered illegal searches of the company's office as
well as the home of two Haitian Americans with whom Esper
lives. Esper, after being released from jail on August 02,
told RSO that Gassant played ''mock execution'' with him in
the back of Gassant's office before sending him to jail.
After attempting to hold Esper in jail for a number of
charges, including possession of an illegal weapon and later
being a ''terrorist,'' Gassant was eventually compelled to
release him.

PROTECTS THE PALACE SPOKESMAN
--------------

4. (C) On the heels of the scuffle at the music festival,
Gassant again displayed probable abuse of his authority in
ordering the halt of a police investigation to protect his
personal friend, Palace Spokesman Assad Volcy. A vehicle in
upper Delmas was stopped on July 31 by the police under
suspicion of transporting kidnappers. Several local
residents had witnessed a vehicle driving away with a
kidnapping victim the day before and reported a description
of the car to the local police. When the vehicle was

PORT AU PR 00001163 002.4 OF 003


recognized and stopped in Delmas, witnesses saw two men flee
from the car, one dropping his weapon in a bush. Gassant
arrived at the scene as Petionville Police Commander Franz
Georges and his officers tried to take custody of the
vehicle. The HNP did not enter the vehicle but briefly
secured it. Gassant ordered Georges to stop, refused to
allow the HNP to seize the vehicle and called off the
investigation. In a bizarre twist, it was revealed that the
vehicle under suspicion belongs to Assad Volcy who arrived on
the scene with Gassant. The two occupants were identified as
Volcy's bodyguard and driver. Gassant and Volcy called them
back to the scene and the men retrieved the gun from the
bushes. The vehicle was removed from the scene by a local
judge and driven to Gassant,s office.


5. (C) Gassant claimed that Volcy was his friend and he
would not allow any investigations to occur. Next, Gassant
ordered the arrest of the Police Commander Georges, accusing
him of kidnapping and associating with gang members and
bandits. He also ordered him not to leave the country.
Gassant then threatened to arrest the Canadian UN CIVPOL
officer on the case if he too did not drop the investigation.

SLAPS THE POLICE COMMANDER
--------------

6. (C) Georges, Gassant claims, was able to avoid arrest
after Gassant ordered the warrant because the Commander had
employed his own personal ''SWAT team'' for protection.
Media reports George and Gassant ran into each other on
August at the Club Indigo resort near Saint Marc in the early
morning hours of August 3. Georges was said to have extended
his hand to Gassant in an attempt to mend fences, but Gassant
slapped him across the face. Georges immediately hired a
lawyer who announced legal action against Gassant, and a
Saint Marc Magistrate ordered him to court for assault on
August 7. Gassant responded publicly that he would not go to
court to answer the charges against him and has continued
over the last week to demand Georges' arrest. The media,
engrossed with the public drama, described Gassant as out of
control. Senate President Kely Bastien and other
parliamentarians called for the President to put an end to
the public quarrels which they believe are weakening the
judicial and law enforcement institutions. The National
Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) issued a
statement denouncing Gassant's actions.


7. (C) On August 11, Gassant shocked the public when he
announced his resignation as Chief Prosecutor after a meeting
with the President, Minister of Justice Rene Magloire and DG
Andresol. It is unclear whether the President himself asked
Gassant to resign or if he did so on his own accord. (Note:
Others report that Preval also suggested that Andresol also
resign, but that he declined to do so. End note.) Gassant
claimed after the meeting that he would not remain in his
office and answer to Georges' court order. The Prosecutor's
Office announced on August 12 that Gassant's former Deputy
Judge Joseph Manes Louis would replace him. The judge was
sworn in at the Palace of Justice just a few hours later by
Magloire and thereafter taken to the parquet for a formal
installation. Despite the brusque change in leadership,
Magloire praised Gassant for helping to advance the office of
the Chief Prosecutor as an institution. Gassant stated to
the media after the ceremony that he resigned in part because
he ''scared the untouchables'' (elites) within Haitian
society.


8. (C) Comment: According to anecdotal information from a
variety of sources reporting to Emboffs, Gassant is described
variously as mentally imbalanced, a mean drunk, a sexual
predator and/or a megalomaniac. Gassant is a complicated
man whose behavior has become increasingly arbitrary and has
generated criticism of the President for having employed him
for so long with seemingly unchecked authority. Though he
was generally cooperative with the Embassy, he had become
destructive to the judicial system, operating by use of
force, fear and intimidation -- old tactics of previous
governments for which most Haitians have little tolerance.
It remains to be seen whether Manes Louis (who has already

PORT AU PR 00001163 003.3 OF 003


said Gassant will serve as his role model) will continue as
an effective interlocutor with the Embassy and will make an
earnest attempt to repair the judiciary's damaged
relationship with the HNP.
TIGHE