In the ongoing investigation into the 2021 assassination of the former president of Haiti, a Haitian judge has indicted around fifty individuals, including the widow of the late president and a former prime minister, as revealed in a leaked document obtained by local media.
According to the 122-page document authored by Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire and disclosed by AyiboPost, it is alleged that Martine Moise, the widow of the late president, conspired with former Prime Minister Claude Joseph to orchestrate the assassination with the aim of positioning herself as his successor.
The assassination occurred when armed assailants stormed into the presidential residence in Port-au-Prince on the night of July 7, 2021, resulting in the death of the president and leaving the former first lady wounded.
The judge’s directive mandates the arrest and prosecution of all individuals implicated in the indictment.
Moise has taken to social media to denounce what she perceives as unjust arrests and politically motivated persecution. Meanwhile, Joseph, in an interview with the Miami Herald, accused the president’s de facto successor, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, of exploiting the Haitian judicial system to target political adversaries, characterising the situation as a classic coup d’état.
In response, a spokesperson from Henry’s office asserted the independence of the judge and affirmed his authority to issue orders in accordance with the law and his conscience.
Henry assumed office to replace Joseph, who now heads an opposition party, mere days before the assassination. While Henry pledged to facilitate elections, he has indefinitely postponed them, citing challenges posed by a catastrophic earthquake and the escalating influence of heavily armed criminal factions, prompting him to seek international assistance.
With criminal gangs exerting control over much of the capital, Kenya is preparing to lead a UN-sanctioned multinational force to bolster Haitian law enforcement efforts. However, previous misconduct by foreign missions and allegations against Henry’s administration have deterred some nations from offering support.
Meanwhile, a separate legal proceeding related to Moise’s assassination is underway in Miami, where six out of eleven defendants have pleaded guilty to involvement in a plot initially aimed at kidnapping the late president but later altered to a plan to assassinate him.
According to US authorities, the conspirators intended to install Haitian-American pastor Christian Emmanuel Sanon as Moise’s successor.