The Haitian National Police said it has received orders to investigate the death of a journalist who was hit in the head by a tear gas canister as officers opened fire on a group of reporters.
Police Chief Frantz Elbé issued a statement late Sunday offering his condolences to Romelson Vilsaint ‘s family and colleagues, adding that officers were forced to use tear gas to control a “hostile crowd” attacking a police station in the capital of Port-au-Prince on Sunday.
According to witnesses, journalists including Vilsaint, who works for radio station Génération 80, gathered at a police station in Delmas to demand the release of their colleague, Robert Dimanche, who was detained on Sunday while covering a protest. Dimanche works at the local radio station Radio Tele Zenith.
The Haitian Journalists Association also accused police of assaulting several journalists and seizing their equipment and other belongings, condemning what it called “anti-democratic acts of repression.”
“The safety of the media and the free movement of journalists is essential for the full and complete enjoyment of democracy’s freedom of the press, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and right to information,” it stated.
