A Haitian judge investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse has indicted his widow, Martine Moïse, former Prime Minister Claude Joseph, and former Haitian National Police chief Léon Charles, among others , according to a report obtained Monday.
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.
Dozens of suspects were charged in the 122-page report published by Walther Wesser Voltaire, who is the fifth judge to lead the investigation, the previous ones having resigned for various reasons, including fear of being killed.
Charles, who was police chief at the time of Moïse’s assassination and who is now Haiti’s permanent representative to the Organization of American States, faces the most serious charges: murder, attempted murder, illegal possession and carrying of weapons, conspiracy against the internal security of the State and criminal conspiracy.
Joseph and Martine Moïse, who was injured during the attack, are accused of complicity and criminal association.
Charles could not immediately be reached for comment, and Martine Moïse’s lawyer did not return a message for comment,
Meanwhile, Mr. Joseph, the former prime minister, issued a statement to the Associated Press accusing Mr. Henry of “undermining” the investigation and profiting from the president’s death.
“Henry […] uses the Haitian justice system as a weapon, pursuing political opponents like me. It’s a classic coup, Mr. Joseph said. They failed to kill Martine Moïse and me on July 7, 2021, and now they are using the Haitian justice system to advance their Machiavellian agenda. »
Joseph again called on Henry to resign and noted that when he was still prime minister, he invited the FBI to help local authorities investigate the assassination and wrote to the UN and OAS seeking help.
“I will not stop my fight. Justice must be done,” he said.
Suspected of having targeted the presidency
In his report, the judge noted that the former secretary general of the National Palace, Lyonel Valbrun, told authorities that he had been under “strong pressure” from Martine Moïse to make the president’s office available of Joseph because he needed it to “organize a council of ministers”.
Valbrun also said that two days before her husband’s assassination, Martine Moïse went to the National Palace and spent nearly five hours, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., removing “a bunch of things.”
He added that two days after the assassination of Jovenel Moïse, Martine Moïse called him to tell him that “Jovenel has done nothing for us. You need to open the desktop. The president told Ti Klod to create a council of ministers; he will hold elections in three months so I can become president, now we will have power.”
The document does not identify Ti Klod, but the former prime minister, Claude Joseph, is known by that name.
The judge also indicated in his report that Martine Moïse had “suggested” that she had taken refuge under the marital bed to protect herself from the attackers, but he noted that the authorities present on the scene had noted that “even a giant rat… whose size measures between 35 and 45 centimeters” could not slip under the bed.
The judge found that the former first lady’s statements were “so tainted with contradictions that they leave something to be desired and discredit her.”
Others charged with murder are Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-American pastor who saw himself as the next president of Haiti and who said he thought Moïse was only going to be arrested, Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American and former informant of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Dimitri Hérard, head of presidential security, John Joël Joseph, a former Haitian senator, and Windelle Coq, a Haitian judge whom authorities consider a fugitive.
Prosecutions in the United States
Sanon, Vincent and Joseph were extradited to the United States, where a total of 11 suspects face federal charges in connection with the assassination of the Haitian president. At least three of them have already been convicted.
Meanwhile, more than 40 suspects are languishing in Haitian prisons awaiting trial, although it was not immediately clear how soon any of them would be tried following the Monday’s indictments. Among them are twenty former Colombian soldiers.
U.S. prosecutors have described a plot in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse, who was 53 when he was killed at his private home near the Haitian capital, Port -au-Prince.
The attack began on July 6 and ended on July 7, according to witnesses.
Martine Moïse and other people interviewed said they heard heavy gunshots starting at 1 a.m., which lasted between 30 and 45 minutes, before armed men burst into the presidential couple’s bedroom.
Mme Moses said she was lying on the ground when she heard the attackers shout, “That’s not it!” It’s not that ! It’s not that ! »
She said the suspects made a video call to pinpoint the exact location of what they were looking for when they killed the president. She said she was face down when the suspects tilted her head and pulled on one of her toes “to make sure she wasn’t alive.”
Once they left, Mme Moses says she dragged herself on the ground and whispered to her husband that she was going to try to go to the hospital.
“It was then that she noticed that the president was dead and that his left eye had been removed from the socket,” the report said.
Police officers allegedly bribed
Mme Moïse said a group of about 30 to 50 police officers was supposed to guard the presidential residence, but the judge noted that only a handful of officers were present that night. An officer told the judge he heard explosions and a voice over a megaphone saying, “Don’t shoot!” It’s a DEA operation! American Army! We know how many officers are inside. Come out with both hands down. »
Another officer said the first lady’s security chief found her “in critical condition” surrounded by her two children. He said he also saw an unknown number of people leaving the president’s residence “with briefcases and several envelopes in their possession.”
The report quotes Inspector General André Vladimir Paraison, who says the president called him at 1:46 a.m. and told him: “Paraison! Dude, hurry up! I am in trouble ! Come quickly and save my life.” He said he encountered heavily armed men and was unable to immediately gain access to the residence.
Officers at the scene said they found cars, windows and doors of the president’s private home riddled with bullet holes, as well as cut-off surveillance cameras and a broken lock on the double wooden door leading to the President’s bedroom.
The judge said some police officers present at the residence were unarmed and handcuffed, while others “had time to throw themselves into a ravine” to seek shelter. Additionally, the police officer responsible for the president’s security was accused of receiving US$80,000 to bribe some officers “to remain inactive” during the assassination, according to the report.
The judge noted that “none of the police officers ensuring the security of the head of state were in danger. Unfortunately, the head of state was assassinated with ease.”