Wyclef Jean shot in hand
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A spokesman for Wyclef Jean says the hip-hop star has been released from a hospital after being treated for a gunshot wound to his hand.
Joe Mignon (senior program director for Jean’s Yele Foundation) says Jean was shot in the hand after 11 p.m. local time Saturday in the city of Delmas, just outside Port-au-Prince.
Jean’s brother (Samuel) confirmed the musician was shot. Neither he nor Mignon had additional details.
The shooting comes on the eve of presidential elections in Haiti. Jean is supporting fellow musician Michel Martelly.
A spokesman for the Haitian National Police could not be immediately reached for comment.
- Wyclef Jean wearing haiti flag.
Hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean was shot in the hand Saturday night on the eve of Haiti’s tense presidential runoff election, but he has since been treated and released from a local hospital, according to his publicist.
“It was a minor graze to the hand” – said Cindy Tanenbaum, a Jean spokeswoman. No other details were available.
The Haitian-born star has been campaigning for presidential contender Michel ‘Sweet Micky’ Martelly in a race that has already been tainted by fraud, violence and myriad irregularities.
A message on Jean’s official Twitter page read – “We have spoken to Wyclef, he is ok. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.”
Jean attempted to run for president himself last year but was barred by Haiti’s electoral commission, which said he was ineligible because he has been living in the United States.
Since then, he has thrown his considerable star power behind Martelly, 50, a musician-turned-politician, who is facing former first lady and university professor Mirlande Manigat, 70.
The shooting took place after 2300 local time on Saturday near the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince – said Joe Mignon, senior programme director for Jean’s Yele Foundation.
The shooting comes on the eve of presidential elections in Haiti.
Jean (41) is supporting fellow musician Michel Martelly.
Jean’s brother (Samuel) confirmed his sibling was shot but had no further details.
Jean’s Twitter feed stated: “We have spoken to Wyclef, he is OK. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers – Management.”
A spokesman for the Haitian National Police could not be immediately reached for comment.
The presidential election was originally scheduled for 2010, but was delayed due to the devastating earthquake that struck the country in January last year. It killed an estimated 230.000 people and left more than one million homeless.
Jean had intended last year to run for president but last August, Haiti’s electoral council ruled that Jean was not eligible to run for president in his home country.
It was because he did not meet a requirement that presidential candidates maintain five consecutive years of residency in the country before running.
He withdrew his bid and said he planned to release an album, called ‘If I Were President’ – The Haitian Experience, in 2011.