Politics and Current
The widow of the former president of Haiti receives an indictment in connection with his murder
New Haiti President Jovenel Moise and his wife at the Te Deum during the inauguration ceremony at the National Palace, after receiving the sash during a ceremony at the Haitian Parliament in Port-au-Prince, February 7, 2017. Jovenel Moise was sworn in as Haiti’s 58th president on Tuesday, ending a protracted electoral crisis that has created an influence vacuum in the impoverished, disaster-prone Caribbean country. Moise, a 48-year-old banana exporter who has never held political office, took the oath of office during a ceremony at the National Assembly. (Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP) (Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Three years after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, a judge issued indictments against 51 people, including his widow Martine Moïse, former Prime Minister Claude Joseph and former police chief Léon Charles.
President Moïse was killed in July 2021, when 28 foreign mercenaries, most of them Colombians, raided his home in Port-au-Prince. His widow, Martine, was also shot during the attack, but was otherwise unharmed.
The indictments are the culmination of nearly three years of effort. Walther Wesser Voltaire published a final 122-page report containing allegations and accusations. It is price noting that Voltaire was “the fifth judge to conduct the investigation after the previous ones resigned” out of fear for his life and that of his family members. families.
“We were able to thoroughly uncover the degree of participation and role of each of the groups of criminals who came together under the influence of Machiavellian plans developed by authors, co-authors, accomplices and supporters to assassinate President Jovenel Moïse,” reads Monday’s report per CBS.
Charles must face the worst fees: “murder; attempted murder; possession and illegal carrying of weapons; conspiracy against the internal security of the state; and criminal association.”
Mrs. Moïse and Joseph also face complicity and criminal the association’s allegations, as each were “accused of knowing about the risk to the president before committing the attack.”
According to indictment“Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-American pastor who envisioned himself as Haiti’s next president…Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American and former informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Dimitri Hérard, head of presidential security; John Joël Joseph, former senator from Haiti; and Windelle Coq, a Haitian senator who authorities say is a fugitive, now face murder charges.
Immediately after the president’s assassination Haiti plunged into political confusion. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, drew attention to the alarming statistics. Figures from January 2024 in Haiti show that greater than 800 people “were killed, injured or kidnapped,” which is “more than three times the number compared to the same month” a yr earlier in 2023.
Unfortunately, “[t]The indictments are expected to further destabilize Haiti, which is grappling with a surge in gang violence and recovering from a wave of violent protests demanding the resignation of current Prime Minister Ariel Henry, he added. Related press reports.