Former Haitian mayor sentenced in the US for concealing his involvement in violent acts in visa application

Boston.- A former Haitian mayor was sentenced on Friday to nine years in prison in the United States after being found guilty of illegally obtaining a permanent resident card (Green Card), which allowed him to reside in the country, by concealing his participation in a brutal campaign to assassinate and torture his political opponents.

Jean Morose Viliena, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor in Boston after a jury found him guilty in March of committing what the prosecution, in court documents, described as “the most egregious type of immigration fraud.” He was accused of having marked “no” on his visa application in 2008, in response to the question of whether he had “ordered, perpetrated, or materially assisted in committing extrajudicial political executions or other acts of violence against the Haitian people”.

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“Viliena built her life in the United States hiding the truth about her violent past, a past marked by political persecution, bloodshed, and the censorship of the opposition in Haiti,” stated Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley in a statement from the Department of Justice.

Received backing for violent acts

Viliena, who was mayor of Les Irois between December 2006 and February 2010, would have had the support of Korega, a political structure accused of using armed violence to impose its power in the southwest of Haiti, according to court documents. One of the most serious events occurred in 2007, when Viliena allegedly led an armed raid on the home of an activist who had testified against him. During that attack, the activist’s younger brother was shot dead, and, according to the evidence presented at the trial, his skull was smashed in front of a crowd. Investigations indicate that this fact would be part of a pattern of violent repression against political opponents under his municipal management.