Three high profile figures are among the 51 people indicted in the 2021 assassination of Haiti’s former president Jovenel Moïse: former first lady Martine Moïse, the country’s former prime minister Claude Joseph, and its police chief Léon Charles.
The former first lady, who was critically injured in the attack on her husband by more than two dozen foreign mercenaries, is accused of being complicit, with the judge noting he “found contradictions in Moïse’s statements and some evidence that suggest she knew about a plot against the former president,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
While the judge did not present evidence showing she was directly involved, he pointed to testimony from two defendants who claimed she wanted to run for president.
The 122-page report listing the charges is the product of five judges and years of investigation, with previous judges stepping down from the task citing intimidation and threats to their families.
Charles faces the most serious charges: murder; attempted murder; possession and illegal carrying of weapons; conspiracy against the internal security of the state; and criminal association. He is alleged to be one of the masterminds of the assassination. […]
The judge’s report alleges that the president’s head of security was paid an $80,000 bribe to lower security on the night of the assassination, and to keep his men out of harm’s way.
He noted how “none of the police providing security to the head of state was in danger. Unfortunately, the head of state was assassinated with ease.”
Political turmoil in Haiti has only worsened since 2021, with extreme gang violence forcing the U.S. to nearly close its embassy in Port-au-Prince. The Haitian government announced last week that it is working to finalize a long-awaited police force led by Kenya to quell gang violence in the city. (The Hill)
Joseph claimed the country's Acting President and Prime Minister Ariel Henry is "weaponizing the Haitian justice system, prosecuting political opponents" like him.
"It’s a classic coup d’état,” he told the Associated Press. “They failed to kill me and Martine Moïse on July 7th 2021, now they are using the Haitian justice system to advance their Machiavellian agenda.”
