After paying a ransom, after spending a week in captivity, Hello gas station owner in Mariani, Haiti, Jean-Marc Condestin was released on Friday. However, his son, Jean-Baptiste Condestin, when he paid the ransom, was abducted by the same Grand-Ravine gang, according to the Haitian newspaper El Nouvelliste.
Marc-Antoine Nesi, spokesman for the National Association of Gas Station Owners (ANAPROSS), explained to Magik radio that Jean-Baptiste Condestin, son of Jean-Marc Condestin, was accompanied by his uncle Mathieu Condestin and on arrival at the station in Martissant communes, a motorcyclist drove Baptiste to his father’s place, but after paying the ransom, his father was released and detained.
Jean-Baptiste Condestin is abducted in Grand-Ravine by the same gang that abducted his father on February 28 in Mariani while at the gas station.
A spokesman for the National Association of Gas Station Owners (ANAPROSS) strongly opposed the government and criticized the authorities for not helping the Condestin family after Jean-Marc Condestin’s abduction. “He leaves it to us. If the government had accompanied this family, Condestin’s son would not have had to bring redemption to Grand-Ravine,” he said.
According to Marc-Antoine Nesi, Jean-Marc Condestin’s brother, he filed a complaint with the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ) that he had done nothing to help the contractor’s family.
Haitian newspaper details that the National Association of Gas Station Owners (ANAPROSS) has closed its gas stations throughout the country Wednesday, March 3, in response to Condestin’s abduction, one of its members. “There were talks with the authorities on Thursday about our stopping work, they gave us some guarantees. We had to respect an armistice, which led to the abduction of Condestin’s son,” said Marc André Dériphonse, the association’s president.
Statements by the President of Haiti
Jovenel Moses said he had information about the brains of the kidnapping. But before taking action against them, he wanted solid evidence. “Before we reach the detention of the people, we have good evidence,” said the president at the end of the NPC, which he chaired.
He had announced the creation of an anti-kidnapping cell to strengthen the anti-kidnapping cell that already exists in the DCPJ.