A Haitian judge charges Jovenel Moise’s widow with complicity in the president’s assassination.

On the morning of the assassination of the president of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, his wife, Martine Moise, was also seriously injured. The couple was relaxing in their marital bed when an armed commando stormed the presidential house and carried out the assassination that plunged the Caribbean country into instability and a deep political crisis. Martin Moise joins the investigation from the victim to clarify the reasons for the president’s assassination.

The judge in charge of the case, Walther Voltaire, on Monday filed charges against 51 people, including the president’s widow, then-Prime Minister Claude Joseph and former National Police chief Leon Charles. The new twist in the plot that has kept Haitians in suspense has been justified by magistrates with “sufficient evidence” and “supporting allegations” that show the accused’s responsibility in the crime. Martin Moise is accused of collusion and criminal organization. Voltaire has urged the accused to be prosecuted for “acts of criminal organization, armed robbery, terrorism, murder and complicity in murder, crimes committed to harm Jovenel Moise.”

The President’s widow left Haiti and took refuge in Florida, USA. He has maintained in a few public statements that he is innocent and that he is the victim of the early morning attack on July 7, 2021, when heavily armed commandos made up of ex-Colombian soldiers broke through. entered the presidential residence in Port-au-Prince and shot the couple. According to the woman’s testimony to Haitian authorities, that morning “the presidential couple heard loud shots from automatic weapons that lasted for 30 to 45 minutes before the attackers entered the room, where they shot them, killing the president and others.” The attackers left her for dead. According to her story, Martine Moise was left face down in a bedroom and one of the attackers touched her toes to confirm she had been killed.

Moise’s story is part of a 122-page indictment prepared by Judge Voltaire and published by Haitian media. ibopost. The magistrate said the widow’s statements were “so full of contradictions that they leave much to be desired and discredit her.” According to the indictment, one of the defendants revealed during interrogation that Martin Moise conspired with the former prime minister to overthrow the president and take over. According to the document, the allegations against the former first lady are “sufficient” to indict her. “There is serious and consistent evidence which could induce charges for acts of murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, detention and transportation of illegal weapons of war and ammunition, conspiracy against security, neglect, complicity in murder and conspiracy to commit a crime. “Charges the accused,” the document reads.

To date, 20 Colombian nationals, 19 Haitian police officers, including officers in charge of security for the late president, and four individuals dressed in civilian clothes have been detained by Haitian authorities. Authorities have also seized more than 60 firearms of different calibers and eight vehicles used in the attack. In June 2023, Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jar was sentenced to life imprisonment by a United States federal judge. The prosecution charged Jarr with “conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material assistance resulting in death” and maintained that “he was responsible for supplying weapons to Colombian allies to carry out the operation.” . Jarr was arrested in the Dominican Republic in January and has voluntarily agreed to travel to the United States, where in March of last year he pleaded guilty to supporting the commando that killed the Haitian president.

Haiti is experiencing a nightmare of violence that the authorities are unable to deal with. The capital is a hub for gangs and armed groups that maintain a relentless war for territorial control. Added to this is the misery that suffocates millions, causing the internal displacement of tens of thousands of Haitians and the mass exodus of migrants leaving the country in search of better conditions. The government, for its part, remains in perpetual crisis and instability, without the capacity to deal with the dire situation suffered by the Caribbean country and to guarantee the well-being and security of its population.

The situation is so chaotic that the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, has launched a desperate cry for help to “save” Haiti from a wave of violence. “Let us prevent Haiti from being destroyed by chaos and anarchy, let us not allow the crisis we are experiencing there to spread throughout the region,” the president demanded after an intervention before the United Nations Security Council, in New York. Half of February. When UN members were asked to help the Caribbean country, Abinadere also issued a warning: “From today our motto will be: Either we fight together to save Haiti or we fight alone to save the Dominican Republic!”

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