President Aristide never made any statement "encouraging people to register to vote" in a proposed future election in Haiti.
Following an article published on September 7th 2005 by Reuters and written by Guyler Delva, Mr Ira Kurzban Counsel for President Jean Bertrand Aristide stated in a letter to Reuters that any claim that President Aristide made a statement "encouraging people to register to vote" in a tape recording played at a Fanmi Lavalas press conference in Port-au-Prince is false and that any purported tape of that nature is fraudulent. Mr Kurzban took this opportunity to remind that President Aristide?s statements in regard to elections on April 19, 2005 and more recently August 31, 2005, have been clear and consistent. He requested that Reuters publish this clarification and retract their statement.(see Ira Kurzban letter below)
In response to Mr Kurzban's letter , Reuters has informed that Guyler Delva acknowledged that there was no basis for him to write that the tape said the President supports registration and that Reuters will publish a correction.
Prezidan Aristide pa janm fè okenn deklarasyon kote li ankouraje pèp lan fè kat pou lal vote nan pwochen eleksyon yo an Ayiti.
Nan yon lèt li ekri Ajans Reuters, avoka Prezidan Aristid Mèt Ira Kurzban deklare Prezidan an pa janm fè okenn deklarasyon sou kasèt kote li ankouraje pèp lan anrejistre pou lal vote nan pwochen eleksyon yo an Ayiti jan sa te rapòte nan yon atik Guyler Delva te ekri pou Reuters nan dat 7 Septanm 2005. Mèt Kurzban kontinye pou li di non selman rapòte ke Prezidan fè yon deklarasyon konsa se menti men tou kasèt sa se yon fo. Mèt Ira Kurzban pwofite pou raple ke pozisyon Prezidan an sou keksyon eleksyon yo klè epi yo pa chanje, li site deklarasyon Prezidan an te fè nan dat 19 avril ak 31 dawout 2005. Mèt Kurzban egzije pou Reuters pibliye yon klarifikasyon epi retire deklarasyon li te fè a. (kopi lèt Mèt Kurzban voye bay Reuters la wap jwenn li pi ba)
Nan repons li bay Mèt Ira Kurzban, Reuters fè li konnen Guyler Delva rekonèt ke Prezidan Aristid pa janm deklare sou kasèt ke li ankouraje pèp lan anrejistre pou al vote nan eleksyon. Reuters angaje l pou li pibliye yon koreksyon.
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September 12, 2005
Mr. Michael Christie
Bureau Chief
Reuters America, Inc.
777 Brickell Avenue
Suite 700
Miami, Florida 33131-2866
Re: News Report by Joseph Guyler Delva of September 7, 2005
Dear Mr. Christie:
On September 7, 2005 Reuters published an article from Haiti that reported that a tape recording of President Jean Bertrand Aristide was played at a news conference in Port-au-Prince and that President Aristide was purportedly "encouraging people to register to vote" in a proposed future election in Haiti. President Aristide never made this statement. Any purported tape of that nature is fraudulent and any claim that he made such a statement is false. President Aristide?s statements in regard to elections have been clear and consistent.
On April 19, 2005 and more recently August 31, 2005, President Aristide articulated the steps necessary to have free, fair and democratic elections in Haiti. They are that: (i) the thousands of members of Fanmi Lavalas and Lavalas supporters who are in jail and in exile must be free to return home; (ii) the repression that has already killed over 10,000 people must end immediately; and (iii) then, there must be national dialogue.
Please take steps to publish this clarification and retract the statement reported in your wire service. In addition, if the alleged tape recording is in the possession of Mr. Delva or he has access to it, we request that the tape be provided to me as President Aristide?s counsel.
Sincerely,
Ira J. Kurzban
Counsel for President Jean Bertrand Aristide