RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Haitian authorities in charge of investigating the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, revealed on Wednesday (14) details of how the plan to carry out the assassination was devised and the main players presumably involved in the plot.
Dr. Christian Emmanuel Sanon is believed to have led the plot; he is a doctor living in the United States and is unknown in Haitian politics, but who aspired to replace Moïse as head of state following his death, said the director general of the police Léon Charles at a press conference.
Charles also disclosed that the alleged masterminds planned the crime during a meeting in a hotel in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, of which photographic evidence was presented.
A photograph released to the media shows the alleged six instigators of the assassination and those financially responsible for the operation.
In addition to Sanon, they are Venezuelan Antonio Emmanuel Intriago Valera, director of CTU Security, the company that reportedly hired the Colombian mercenaries who allegedly perpetrated the attack, as well as Walter Veintemilla, head of the consulting firm that is believed to have financed the operation.
Also present were 3 Haitians: ex-senator John Joël Joseph, a fugitive; the mayor of Jacmel (south) Marky Kessa; and James Solages, who was arrested along with the Colombian mercenaries and suspected of being the liaison with CTU Security.
For the moment, 23 people have been arrested, including 18 Colombian ex-military officers and 5 Haitian-American citizens, and precautionary measures have been enforced against 24 officers and officials of the presidential security services.
QUESTIONS TO THE PROSECUTOR IN THE CASE
As occurred on Tuesday with those summoned to testify before prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude in charge of the case, the Haitian presidential palace security chief Dimitri Hérard failed to appear in court on Wednesday to be questioned by the Prosecutor’s Office on president Jovenel Moïse’s assassination.
In a letter sent to the Prosecutor’s Office, Hérard justified his absence on the grounds that the Police General Inspectorate has ordered a precautionary measure preventing him from complying with the summons.
Before Hérard, two others responsible for the president’s security failed to appear before the prosecutor: Inspector Amazan Paul Eddy, head of the CAT Team, and Commissioner Jean Laguel, general coordinator of presidential security, who presented identical arguments.
FIRST MOURNING CEREMONY AFTER THE ASSASSINATION
While the investigation progresses, a week after the assassination a mourning ceremony was organized by sympathizers of the Tèt Kale party, to which the president belonged, consisting of a wreath laying and candle lighting outside the National Palace.
The Haitian flag at half mast and a large photo of Moïse with the message: “I have tried, you must not give up. Keep fighting. Jovenel Moïse” served as an altar under which to place the wreaths and light the candles in honor of the deceased president.
Some people even addressed a few words to the president to pay their respects as, according to his supporters, Moïse lives on in spirit, only his body has been killed.
Abroad, the United Nations General Assembly met on Wednesday in a special session to pay tribute to president Moïse, where member states recalled the president, condemned his assassination and solemnly conveyed their condolences to Haiti.
COVID-19 FORGOTTEN
Also from abroad, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Wednesday called on other international organizations to support the country in the fight against Covid-19, which seems to have been neglected due to the political crisis the country is facing after the assassination of its president.
“We are concerned about Haiti, which, amid considerable political turmoil has seen thousands of people displaced by growing violence and instability, and crowded shelters could become active hotspots for Covid-19 transmission,” PAHO Director Carissa Etienne said at an online press conference.