Dany Toussaint was a candidate in the February 2006 presidential election

Haitian elections, 2006

The 2006 elections in Haiti, to replace the interim government of Gérard Latortue put in place after the 2004 Haiti rebellion, were delayed four times after having been originally scheduled for October and November 2005. The elections finally took place on February 7, 2006, with turnout of around 60%...

 in Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

. Toussaint is a former Haitian Army major, police chief and bodyguard of Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...

. He is a former Senator and leader of the Haitian Democratic and Reformist Movement Party. In 2003, Judge Claudy Gassant requested that Toussaint's immunity from prosecution be lifted in regards to the assassination of Haitian journalist Jean Dominique

Jean Dominique

Jean Léopold Dominique was a noted Haïtian journalist who spoke out against successive dictatorships. He was one of the first people in Haïti to broadcast in Kreyòl, the language spoken by most of the populace...

 who had accused Toussaint of having his rival for the position of Secretary of State for Public Security, Jean Lamy, assassinated. The request of Judge Gassant was rejected by the senate.

On January 2, 2006, MINUSTAH troops arrested Toussaint for possession of illegal weapons. He was handed over to the Haitian National Police

Haitian National Police

The Haitian National Police or PNd'H, is the law enforcement and defense force of Haiti. It was created in 1995 to bring public security under civilian control as mandated in Haiti's constitution. More than 8,500 police officers have completed training in modern law enforcement. U.S...

, who released him hours later.