Former PM, police chief, widow charged in 2021 Haiti president's killing

A judge investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise issued a final report on Monday that indicts his widow, Martine Moise, ex-prime minister Claude Joseph, and the former chief of Haiti’s National Police, Leon Charles, among others.

Charles, who now serves as Haiti’s permanent representative to the Organisation of the American States, 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.

Meanwhile, Martine Moise and Joseph are accused of complicity and criminal association.

Charles could not be immediately reached for comment. Neither Joseph nor the spokesman for Martine Moise’s attorney responded to messages for comment.

Others who face charges including murder are Christian Emm anuel Sanon, a Haitian-American pastor who visualised himself as Haiti's next president and said he thought Moise was only going to be arrested; Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American and former informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration; Dimitri Herard, presidential security chief; John Joel Joseph, a former Haitian senator; and Windelle Coq, a Haitian senator whom authorities say is a fugitive.

Sanon, Vincent and Joseph were extradited to the US, where a total of 11 suspects face federal charges in the slaying of Haiti's president.

Meanwhile, more than 40 suspects are languishing in prison in Haiti awaiting trial, although it was not immediately clear how quickly one would be held following the judge's findings issued Monday.

The indictments that were made public are expected to further destabilise a country already struggling with a surge in gang violence and recovering from a spate of recent violent protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Haitian justice system

A total of nearly 50 suspects were indicted in the 122-page report.

"We were able to discover with insight the degree of participation and the role that each of the groups of delinquents who joined together under the influence of Machiavellian plans developed between authors, co-authors, accomplices and henchmen for the purposes of assassinating President Jovenel Moise," the report stated.

Another 11 suspects have been extradited to the US and charged in the slaying, with three of them already sentenced.

US prosecutors have described it as a plot hatched in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moise, who was 53 when he was slain at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

The attack began late July 6 and ended July 7, according to witnesses.

Martine Moise and others who were interrogated said they heard heavy gunfire that began around 1 a.m. and lasted between 30 to to 45 minutes before armed men burst into the bedroom of the presidential couple.

She said the suspects made a video call to identify the exact location of what they were searching as they killed the president.

Once they left, Moise said she dragged herself on the ground and whispered to her husband that she was going to try and go to the hospital.

"That’s when she noticed that the president was dead," the report stated.

Moise said a group of about 30 to 50 police officers were supposed to guard the presidential residence, but the judge noted that only a handful of officers were present that night. One officer told the judge that he heard explosions and a voice through a megaphone saying, "Do not shoot! It’s a DEA operation! US Army! We know how many officers are inside. Exit with two hands lowered."

Another officer said that the head of security of the first lady found her "in critical condition" surrounded by her two children. He said he also saw an undetermined number of people coming out of the president’s residence "with briefcases and several envelopes in their possession."

Inspector General Andre Vladimir Paraison said the president called him at 1:46 am and said, "Paraison! Man, hurry up! I’m in trouble! Come quickly and save my life." He said he encountered heavily armed men and couldn’t access the residence immediately.

The judge's report noted that some police officers at the residence were disarmed and handcuffed, while others "had time to throw themselves down a ravine" for safety. It also 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."