According to the Caribbean News Agency, the Chief of Protocol of the Chamber of Deputies, Pedrica Saint Jean, remains hospitalized in critical condition after she was shot several times during what opposition politicians have dubbed an “ambush” last Saturday.
Saint Jean was returning from the funeral service for murdered journalist, Pétion Rospide, an anchor for the privately owned radio station Radio Sans Fin, who was shot dead on June 10, while driving to his home in Portail Léogane, an area in the capital Port-au-Prince.
At the time of his death, Rospide was driving a car owned by the radio station that clearly featured the name of the station, said Israel Jacky Cantave, Radio Sans Fin’s director of information and programming.
Journalists here have come under attack amid protests calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse, who has been accused of embezzlement in the PetroCaribe oil initiative project.
Media reports said that on June 9, a photographer working with the daily Le Nouvelliste was hit by a rubber bullet, and protesters tried to attack a videographer with Radio Television Nationale D’Haiti,
A day later, protesters set fire to vehicles belonging to a local privately owned broadcaster, Radio Télé Ginen.
Saint Jean, a former candidate for parliament under the banner of the party, Fusion, was returning from the funeral when the vehicle, from heavily armed individuals.
The vehicle bore several gun shots Saint Jean was hit twice in the back and shoulder. She was rushed to the Bernard Mevs Hospital where her conditions remains critical.
One opposition politician, , Printemps Belzaire, who is a strong critic of President Moise, said there is no doubt that this was a planned ambush and an attempt at “intimidation.
“This is not an isolated case, it’s obvious this was planned and it was targeted. Thank God I wasn’t in the car.” Belizaire said.
Police said they are conducting investigations into the incident.