By Joseph Guyler C. Delva (From Haitian-Caribbean News Network

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (HCNN) – Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is now under house arrest, according to a ruling issued Tuesday by Judge Lamarre Belizaire investigating acts of corruption, money laundering , smuggling of drugs, blamed on the ex-leader and a number of his allies, when he led the Caribbean country between 2001 and 2004, judicial sources told HCNN on Tuesday.

The residence of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in the district of Tabarre, will be surrounded by agents of the prison administration, known as APENA, while the perimeter of the residence will be guarded by agents of the Central Department of the Judicial Police (DCPJ ), according to the judge Belizaire’s ruling.

The investigating judge characterized the new ruling as part of conservatory measures to ensure that the accused, Aristide, remain available for judicial authorities and that he can be brought to the judge’s office, as needed, to be heard.

After listing and citing a series legal provisions playing against former President Aristide to justify his decision, investigating judge Lamarre Belizaire, concluded that Aristide will be put under house arrest.

“For these reasons, (we) say and declare that the named Jean-Bertrand Aristide is under house arrest since force must remain with the law,” reads the order, dated September 9, of which HCNN has obtained a copy.

“We order those responsible for the Prison Administration to take all necessary measures to secure the residence where the accused is found and to bring him before us, when required, in order to be interrrogated on acts of money laundering and illicit drug trafficking blamed on him, “wrote judge Bélizaire in his order.

“We order consequently, officials of the Central Department of the Judicial Police to secure the perimeter of the above-mentioned house,” concluded the order which was communicated to relevant authorities for further legal proceedings.

Judge Belizaire also decided that only he, as the magistrate in charge of the case, could now authorize persons, whatever their qualities, to visit Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in his residence, at Tabarre.

The investigator, who emphasized the continued absence of Jean-Bertrand Aristide at his office, despite the issuance of a summons, said that the provisions of Article 77 of the criminal investigating code, oblige the investigating magistrate to issue an arrest warrant against anyone who refuses to comply with the orders of the judge.

He explained that, for the proper conduct of the inquiry, the investigating must ensure the constant presence of the accused and must take “all conservatory measures in this regard.”

Jean-Bertrand Aristide and dozens of his allies have been accused of having embezzled and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars from the public treasury between 2001 and 2004. Lawyers and allies of Aristide, denouncing political persecutions, flatly rejected the accusations.

However, spokespersons for the government, led by Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, and the spokesman for President Michel Martelly, have denied any involvement of the executive in the case which has been the subject of a criminal investigation since 2005, way before the coming to power, in 2011, of current political leaders.

A judicial source told HCNN on Friday that the investigations being pursued against the former leader by judge Belizaire’s office are divided into three files, including one regarding charges of illicit drug trafficking and money laundering. The second file concerns the alleged misappropriation of public funds, while the third one has to do with alleged extortion and bribery.

Aristide and several of his former colleagues are already subject to a travel ban, and a dozen arrest warrants have already been issued.

Former top officials of the Aristide administration – including former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, former Interior Minister Henry-Claude Ménard, Jonas Petit and Toussaint Hilaire, two former senior officials of the Aristide Foundation for democracy and the Lavalas Family party – have been questioned at the judge’s office, as part of the investigation.

Former President Aristide is also the subject of two other criminal investigations – one regarding the case of scammed members of cooperative societies, investigated by judge Sonnel Jean-François, while the other relates to the double murder, on April 3, 2000, of the famous journalist and CEO of Radio Haiti Inter, Jean Dominique, and of his gatekeeper Jean-Claude Louissant.

HCNN also learned that Haitian businessman Joel Edward “Pasha” Vorbe, a close ally of Aristide and board member of the party of the former president, is invited to appear before judge Belizaire, on Tuesday, for questioning about charges of money laundering and criminal conspiracy.

For more on this story go to: http://hcnn.ht/en/2014_09/politics/372/Former-Haitian-leader-placed-under-house-arrest-on-corruption-Aristide-Lamarre-Belizaire-house-arrest-corruption.htm