Police say two individuals are assisting their investigations into the disappearance of the photojournalist, Vladjimir Legagneur, who went missing on March 14.
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The spokesperson for the National Police of Haiti (PNH), Frantz Lerebours, said the mobile phone belonging to the journalist had been found in their possession.
He also indicated that the human bones found on March 28 on a vacant lot locality 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 or not 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 on the Haitian authorities to conduct a “thorough investigation” into the disappearance of Legagneur.
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 on March 14 after going on an assignment to report on the living conditions in Grand Ravine, one of the most violent areas in recent years.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges on Friday the Haitian authorities to keep investigating the disappearance of Vladjimir Legagneur, a freelance photo-journalist who went missing in one of the most dangerous areas of the capital, Port-au-Prince, on 14 March.
According to Vladjimir Legagneur’s wife, the 30-year-old reporter disappeared after going to do a report on living conditions in Grand-Ravine, an extremely poor neighborhood in the southern district of Martissant that has seen violent clashes between rival gangs in recent years.
A freelancer for the past year, Legagneur used to work for the newspaper Le Matin, the online news agency Loop Haïti and other media outlets. As well as news stories, he covers social issues and works for NGOs.
“We urge the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the photo-journalist Vladjimir Legagneur’s disappearance,” said Emmanuel Colombié, the head of RSF’s Latin America bureau.
“It is extremely worrying that the police have found no trace of him in the ten days since he went missing.”
Legagneur left his home at 9 a.m. on 14 March and never returned.
His wife reported his disappearance two days later to the Judicial Police Central Directorate (DCPJ), which says it has opened an investigation. His wife went back to the DCPJ yesterday but the police had nothing to tell to her.