Miami, October 6, 2023\u2014The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the criminal defamation suit filed by the owner of the rum company Rhum Barbancourt against the independent news website AyiboPost and its editor-in-chief, Widlore M\u00e9rancourt, and calls on Haitian authorities to repeal the country\u2019s punitive criminal defamation laws, the organization said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On September 14, lawyers for Barbancourt owner and CEO, Delphine Gard\u00e8re, filed a lawsuit against the AyiboPost and M\u00e9rancourt in the Court of First Instance in Port-au-Prince, the capital, alleging that a June 7 AyiboPost report<\/a> by M\u00e9rancourt about the company made defamatory allegations about Gard\u00e8re\u2019s election as president of the Franco-Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are gravely concerned by Barbancourt\u2019s seemingly punitive legal attack against the AyiboPost and its editor-in-chief, Widlore M\u00e9rancourt. Lobbing accusations at a respected journalist as a means of discrediting his work is deeply concerning behavior from one of Haiti\u2019s largest companies,\u201d said Cristina Zahar, CPJ\u2019s program coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, in S\u00e3o Paulo. \u201cHaitian judicial authorities should protect journalists, who already work in a precarious safety environment, and the government should repeal Haiti\u2019s draconian criminal defamation laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawsuit, which has been viewed by CPJ, cites the Haitian penal code, the press law of 1929, and the decree of July 1986 on the press and repression of press offenses. The lawsuit seeks a punishment of three years imprisonment, plus a fine of 500 gourdes ($US4) fine and $10,000 in legal costs, to be paid in U.S. dollars. In accordance with Article 28 of the Haitian penal code, it also seeks to prohibit M\u00e9rancourt from exercising his political and civil rights for five years, which would include voting or running for office and carrying arms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawsuit accuses M\u00e9rancourt, who is also a correspondent for The Washington Post<\/a>, of using \u201cfalse journalistic credentials.\u201d It also claims that the AyiboPost is not a legally registered media company under Haitian law, and therefore neither M\u00e9rancourt nor the news outlet are protected under the Haitian Constitution of 1987<\/a>, which recognizes the right of journalists not to reveal their sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an email sent to CPJ by her public relations firm, Gard\u00e8re claimed that there were inaccuracies in the article, including AyiboPost\u2019s description of a personal dispute with her mother over the family\u2019s finances, which was later resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AyiboPost\u2019s attorney Samuel Madistin told CPJ by phone that the lawsuit was \u201can unacceptable attack on freedom of expression, which is the basis of any democratic society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Madistin said that Haitian law does not require journalists or online media outlets to register with the state. “Refusal to reveal one’s sources cannot be equated with a press offense, let alone defamation,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to the article\u2019s publication, AyiboPost declined Gard\u00e8re\u2019s request to review a draft of the article and find out who the sources were, according to emails reviewed by CPJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barbancourt is one of Haiti\u2019s most successful companies, producing a high-quality rum brand recognized<\/a> around the world. Gard\u00e8re is the company\u2019s sole owner after wresting control<\/a> of the family-owned business in a disputed inheritance battle in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wealthy companies such as Barbancourt enjoy enormous influence in Haiti, especially due to the local media\u2019s heavy dependence on advertising revenue<\/a>. Haiti\u2019s legal system<\/a> is frequently used by businesses and wealthy families, as well as the government, to silence critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Haitian media is especially vulnerable in a country that has had no elected government<\/a> for more than two years, with the prime minister effectively ruling by decree. The current situation is aggravated by the collapse of government control<\/a> in large parts of Port-au-Prince, which have fallen under gang control. In a last-ditch effort to restore security, the United Nations Security Council approved<\/a> a resolution on October 2 to send an international police force to the country for one year.
M\u00e9rancourt has not been notified of any court date to hear Gard\u00e8re\u2019s complaint.<\/p>\n\n
\r\nThis content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists<\/a> and was authored by Arlene Getz\/CPJ Editorial Director.
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