Haiti justice min. ex-official could have ordered Moise killing 3 days before: Colombia police

Record ID: 1627049

  • Title: Haiti justice min. ex-official could have ordered Moise killing 3 days before: Colombia police
  • Date: 16th July 2021
  • Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (JULY 16, 2021) (REUTERS) GENERAL OF MINISTERS MINISTERS IN FRONT OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) PRIME MINISTER, CLAUDE JOSEPH, SAYING: "The important thing is that the Haitian National Police and the Colombian Police categorically reject the accusations. The most important thing is that they are not going to destabilize me. Because it was I who wrote to request that the FBI come here, also to request support from Colombia. They cannot destabilize me. The plot is very big. There are many people involved. Do not create confusion about the clues. If you want, let them assassinate me or continue the investigation until its conclusion. That is what I can say. The investigation will reach its conclusion. If you want, let them kill me. But those attacks, due to my character will not affect me. Because I am quite strong!" GENERAL OF JOSEPH (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) PRIME MINISTER, CLAUDE JOSEPH, SAYING: ''I am a de facto prime minister. Ariel (Henry) is an appointed prime minister but was never installed. Joseph Lambert is a senator, he is president of the senate but he is not president of the national assembly. Because the chamber of deputies does not exist. So the three of us, and the other sectors, have to come together to find a solution." GENERAL NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER, PRADEL HENRYQUEZ, SAYING: "On July 22nd there will be a vigil and on the 23rd will be the funeral. The funeral of President Jovenel Moise will be celebrated according to the will of the family, also according to what is required by law." GENERAL OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) PRIME MINISTER, CLAUDE JOSEPH, SAYING: ''I am confirming that the vocal message we were hearing was from her (First Lady Martine Moise). She has courage. She is suffering in hospital. They operated on her. But she will enter the country to participate in the funeral of her husband." MINISTERS LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 30th July 2021 22:43
  • Keywords: Colombia Haiti President Jovenel Moise crime former soldiers
  • Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA; PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
  • City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA; PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA006EM3CIMF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Former Haitian justice ministry official Joseph Felix Badio may have ordered the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise, a Colombian police chief said on Friday (July 16), citing a preliminary investigation into the murder.
    Haitian President Jovenel Moise was shot dead when assassins armed with assault rifles stormed his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince on July 7.
    An investigation by Haitian and Colombian authorities, alongside Interpol, into Moise's killing has revealed that Badio appeared to have given an order for the assassination three days before the attack, General Jorge Vargas said in an audio message sent to news outlets by the police.
    It was not immediately possible to reach Badio for comment. His whereabouts are unclear.
    According to Vargas, the investigation found that Badio had ordered former Colombian soldiers Duberney Capador and German Rivera - who had initially been contacted to carry out security services - to kill Moise.
    "Several days before, apparently three, Joseph Felix Badio, who was a former official of (Haiti's) ministry of justice, who worked in the anti-corruption unit with the general intelligence service, told Capador and Rivera that they had to assassinate the president of Haiti," Vargas said.
    Vargas did not provide proof or give more details about where the information came from.
    Capador was killed and Rivera captured by Haiti police in the aftermath of Moise's murder, authorities have said.
    On Sunday, Haitian authorities detained 63-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon, widely described as a Florida-based doctor, and accused him of being one of masterminds behind the killing.
    Former Haitian Senator John Joel Joseph is being sought by police after Haiti's National Police Chief Leon Charles identified him as a key player in the plot, while Dimitri Herard, the head of palace security for Moise, has also been arrested.
    The group of assassins included 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, according to Haitian authorities. Eighteen of the Colombians have been captured, while five are on the run and three were killed.
    Many of the Colombians accused of involvement in the assassination went to the country as bodyguards, Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Thursday. That has been confirmed by relatives and colleagues of some of the detained Colombians.
    Colombia will send a consular mission to Haiti as soon as it is approved by the Caribbean nation, Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez told journalists on Friday, to meet with the detained Colombians, ensure their rights are being respected, and move ahead with the repatriation of the remains of the deceased Colombians.
    The ministry is in daily contact with the families of the dead and detained, Ramirez added.
    She repeated Colombian government assertions that very few of the men, who were ex-military, knew about the assassination plan but said those responsible should pay the price.
    Meanwhile, Haitian authorities announced Moise's funeral would take place on July 23 and that the First Lady Martine Moise wold be in attendance.
    (Production: Robenson Sanon, Herbert Villarraga, Camilo Cohecha, Javier Andres Rojas, Geraldine Downer)
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