For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails<\/p>\n
A judge investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Mo\u00efse issued a final report on Monday that indicts his widow, Martine Mo\u00efse, ex-prime minister Claude Joseph and the former chief of Haiti\u2019s National Police, L\u00e9on Charles, among others.<\/p>\n
Charles, who now serves as Haiti\u2019s permanent representative to the Organization 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.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Martine Mo\u00efse and Joseph are accused of complicity and criminal association.<\/p>\n
Charles could not be immediately reached for comment. Neither Joseph nor the spokesman for Martine Mo\u00efse\u2019s attorney responded to messages for comment.<\/p>\n
Others who face charges including murder are Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-American pastor who visualized himself as Haiti’s next president and said he thought Mo\u00efse was only going to be arrested; Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American and former informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Dimitri H\u00e9rard, presidential security chief; John Jo\u00ebl Joseph, a former Haitian senator; and Windelle Coq, a Haitian senator whom authorities say is a fugitive.<\/p>\n
Sanon, Vincent and Joseph were extradited to the U.S., where a total of 11 suspects face federal charges in the slaying of Haiti’s president.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The indictments that were made public are expected to further destabilize 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.<\/p>\n
A total of nearly 50 suspects were indicted in the 122-page report.<\/p>\n
“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 Mo\u00efse,” the report stated.<\/p>\n
Another 11 suspects have been extradited to the U.S. and charged in the slaying, with three of them already sentenced.<\/p>\n
U.S. prosecutors have described it as a plot hatched in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Mo\u00efse, who was 53 when he was slain at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n
The attack began late July 6 and ended July 7, according to witnesses.<\/p>\n
Martine Mo\u00efse 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.<\/p>\n
Mo\u00efse said she was lying on the ground when she heard the attackers yell, \u201cThat\u2019s not it! That\u2019s not it! That\u2019s not it!\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the suspects made a video call to identify the exact location of what they were searching as they killed the president. She added that she was face down when the suspects tilted her head and tugged on one of her toes \u201cto ensure that she wasn\u2019t alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once they left, Mo\u00efse said she dragged herself on the ground and whispered to her husband that she was going to try and go to the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when she noticed that the president was dead and that his left eye had been removed from the socket,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n
Mo\u00efse 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, \u201cDo not shoot! It\u2019s a DEA operation! US Army! We know how many officers are inside. Exit with two hands lowered.”<\/p>\n
Another officer said that the head of security of the first lady found her \u201cin critical condition\u201d surrounded by her two children. He said he also saw an undetermined number of people coming out of the president\u2019s residence \u201cwith briefcases and several envelopes in their possession.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inspector General Andr\u00e9 Vladimir Paraison said the president called him at 1:46 am and said, \u201cParaison! Man, hurry up! I\u2019m in trouble! Come quickly and save my life.\u201d He said he encountered heavily armed men and couldn\u2019t access the residence immediately.<\/p>\n
The judge’s report noted that some police officers at the residence were disarmed and handcuffed, while others \u201chad time to throw themselves down a ravine\u201d for safety. It also noted how \u201cnone of the police providing security to the head of state was in danger. Unfortunately, the head of state was assassinated with ease.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails A judge investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Mo\u00efse issued a final report on Monday that indicts his widow, Martine Mo\u00efse, ex-prime minister Claude Joseph and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n