Haiti police arrest coordinator of slain president’s security detail

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The coordinator of the presidential security detail of Jovenel Moïse, Haiti’s president assinated on July 7 at his home, was arrested this week suspected of being involved in the assassination of the head of state.

Jean Laguel Civil was arrested on Monday, July 25 in the neighborhood of Delmas in the capital Port-au-Prince. Summoned by the Prosecutor’s Office to testify two weeks ago, the commissioner failed to appear before the authorities.

The announcement of the arrest is another step in the investigations into Moïse’s murder, which remain with several unanswered questions. The country’s authorities have now focused on investigating the agents responsible for the president’s security – in addition to Civil, head of security Dimitri Herard was arrested on July 15 but also failed to appear before the authorities.

The suspicion is that the agents facilitated the attack of the mercenary group that assassinated Moïse. Over 20 people, including retired Colombian military personnel, have been arrested in connection with the case since investigations began.

In a memo signed by Dimitri Hérard and leaked on social media, the commissioner explains the details of the night of the murder. In the 3-page document he says that he received a request for help from Moïse at around 1:39 AM, and then headed to the president’s home with reinforcements.

Near the entrance, he claims that the officers were surprised by men dressed in black who ordered them to retreat, saying that they were part of an operation of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Because they were outnumbered, Hérard continues, the officers would have retreated to plan an offensive against their opponents. Shortly thereafter they learned that the president had been killed and first lady Martine had been shot and wounded.

The agent is also under investigation in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, for several recent trips to the country where many of the murder suspects live, and to other locations in South America.