Wife Of Haiti's Assassinated President Charged Over His Killing

A judge in Haiti has charged the wife of murdered President Jovenel Moise in connection with the assassination of the former leader in July 2021. According to The Guardian, Martine Moise, who was injured in the attack in which her husband was killed, is one of the dozens of people charged. She is accused of conspiring with former Prime Minister Claude Joseph to kill the president to replace him herself. The judge's order calls for the arrest and trial of 50 people who have been charged in connection to the assassination. 

Jovenel Moise was shot dead when armed men broke into his Port-au-Prince bedroom on the night of 7 July 2021. The latest charges became public on Monday when Haitian news site Ayibo Post leaked the indictment. They have been brought by Walther Wesser Voltaire, the fifth judge to head the investigation, the outlet reported. 

In the 122-page document, Martine Moise is accused of "complicity and criminal association". She is one of the 50 people who have been charged in connection to the murder of the country's last president. 

According to the BBC, the judge argues that the statements Ms Moise gave in the wake of her husband's assassination were "so tainted by contradictions that they leave something to be desired and discredit her". As evidence, the document also cites a statement given by Lyonel Valbrun, who was the secretary general at Haiti's National Palace at the time of President Moise's murder. 

Mr Valbrun alleges that Ms Moise came to Haiti's National Palace two days before the murder. According to him, she spent five hours removing a "bunch of things" from the palace. It is not clear what objects she allegedly removed, but the court document suggests that her actions were not guided "by intuition" or "chance", but she had prior knowledge of the events to come. Mr Valbrun also alleges that on that same day, the first lady called him and told him that her husband "has done nothing for us" as president.

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Further, according to the legal documents, another suspect, former Haitian Justice Ministry official Joseph Felix Badio, accused Ms Moise of plotting to oust her husband from power. Mr Badio alleged that the first lady conspired with the then-PM Claude Joseph to remove Mr Moise from the presidency. According to him, the plan was for Mr Joseph to lead the nation until elections were held, in which Martine Moise would run for president. 

Claude Joseph has also been charged with conspiracy and criminal association.

However, Mr Joseph told the Miami Herald that the current prime minister, Ariel Henry, was the main beneficiary and was "weaponising the Haitian justice system" to persecute opponents in "a classic coup d'etat". 

Mr Henry, meanwhile, has dismissed allegations he was in any way linked to Mr Moise's murder as "fake news". Notably, Mr Henry was sworn into office two weeks after Mr Moise's assassination and has been in power ever since.