Two detained as police investigate disappearance of Haitian photojournalist

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – the police say two persons have been detained in relation to the disappearance of the photojournalist, Vladjimir Legagneur, who has been missing since March 14.

The spokesperson for the National Police of Haiti (PNH), Frantz Lerebours, said the mobile phone belonging to the journalist was found in their possession.

He also indicated that the human bones found on March 28 in a vacant lot in Sillon in the town of Palema in Grand Ravine, on the outskirts of the capital, will be sent overseas for DNA analysis.

Media reports last week said that the police were investigating the mangled remains of a corpse to determine whether it is that of the missing journalist who was last seen near a gang-controlled area of the capital.

Earlier this week, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) called for the Haitian authorities to conduct a “thorough investigation” into Legagneur's disappearance.

Legagneur, who worked for the newspaper Le Matin and online news agency LoopHaiti before becoming a freelancer for local media and non-governmental groups, went missing after going on an assignment to report on the living conditions in Grand Ravine, one of the most violent areas in recent years.

The Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers has also called for the Haitian authorities “to deploy all the necessary resources to shed light” on the “worrying” disappearance of the journalist and the National Association of Haitian Media has also expressed concern at the silence of the police and judicial authorities following the disappearance 30-year-old Legagneur.

Last month, hundreds of people including journalists took to the streets urging the authorities to continue the search for the photojournalist.