Hunger-striking ex-official said OK

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A jailed former premier who has been on a hunger strike for nearly a month is in “relatively good health,” Haiti’s interim government said Saturday, contradicting his lawyer and family who said he was near death.

Former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, 58, has been jailed for 10 months without charge. He stopped eating April 17 to demand his unconditional release, his second hunger strike in recent months.

A psychiatrist who visited Neptune for two hours on May 6 reported that Neptune did not display “any physical alteration that could justify urgent measures,” interim Justice Minister Bernard Gousse said in a statement Saturday.

Neptune’s daughter, Maryvonne Neptune, on Wednesday pleaded for the international community to intervene, saying her father could no longer walk without help.

The government accuses Neptune of orchestrating political killings during a February 2004 rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, allegations he denies.