Several judges have denounced that the conditions to carry out the case are not the most ideal, with weakened judicial structures, pressures and threats of all kinds
FILE PHOTO: A person holds a photo of the late Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated earlier this month, during his funeral at his family home in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. July 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
The judge of the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince, Bernard Sainvil, appointed on Tuesday the judge Walther Wesser Voltaire at the head of the murder investigation of the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise.
With this appointment, he is the fifth investigating judge in charge of this case after the resignation of Merlan Belabre, as well as Haitian judge Jean Wilner Morin, one of his predecessors in the position, who alleged personal reasons less than a week after his appointment.
Among these judges is Garry Orélien, who went so far as to assure that the prime minister, Ariel Henry, would be related to the planning of the assassination and linked to one of the authors intellectuals, according to a recording to which the US chain had access.
Belabre, the previous investigating judge in charge of Moise’s murder case, expressed concern for his safety and that of his family in a statement picked up by the AlterPresse news agency.
< p class=”paragraph”>Several judges have denounced that the conditions to carry out the case are not the most ideal, with weakened judicial structures, pressures and threats of all kinds, as well as the difficulty in extraditing the main intellectual and material suspects of the crime.
File photo of the assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moise. EFE/Jean Marc Hervé Abelard/
Since the assassination of the president, Jovenel Moise, on July 7, the always turbulent political and economic situation in Haiti has been hit even harder. The power vacuum soon degenerated into a security crisis, with daily assassinations and kidnappings, especially in large areas of the capital.
Furthermore, the mandate of Prime Minister Ariel Henry , officially ended on February 7, which increased the crisis of legitimacy in the country and economic problems, amid increased attacks by various armed gangs.
In early May, it became known that a former Haitian senator faces charges in the United States related to Moïse’s murder.
John Joel Joseph made his initial appearance Monday in federal court in Miami, according to court records. The Haitian citizen was extradited from Jamaica to the US to face charges of conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used in preparing or carrying out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap . He faces a possible life sentence.
According to a criminal complaint, Joseph and others, including about 20 Colombian citizens and several dual Haitian-American citizens, participated in a plot to kidnap or kill the president of Haiti, who was ultimately assassinated at his home in Haiti on July 7.