Joseph Badio
In total, more than 40 individuals have been arrested in connection with the case. However, no trial has yet been held in Haiti, highlighting the structural dysfunctions of the judicial system, which has been criticized for its inability to guarantee impartial and independent justice.
Nineteen suspects accused of the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 appeared in court on Monday, January 13, 2025. Their lawyers hoped to secure their release. However, the judge in charge of the case has, once again, postponed the hearing.
The 17 Colombians, all former soldiers and mercenaries, along with two Haitians, were waiting for their hearing to begin at a private residence in an upscale neighborhood of the Haitian capital. The unusual move comes after a surge in gang violence that authorities claim forced them to physically close the appeals court in downtown Port-au-Prince.
After several hours of waiting, a judge finally appeared to announce that the hearing would be postponed to a later date in the month, without providing a specific reason.
“We were hoping for the release of our clients,” said Nathalie Delisca, a lawyer for the 17 detained Colombians. She declined to specify where her clients were currently being held, citing gang attacks on the country’s main prisons nearly a year ago. Those raids led to the escape of thousands of inmates, including those from the national prison where the suspects in the Moïse case were initially held.
According to Delisca, her clients chose not to escape with the other prisoners, claiming their innocence. "They are not guilty. They have nothing to do with Jovenel's murder," she assured.
Also present at the hearing were Macky Kessa, former mayor of Jacmel, and Joseph Badio, a former employee of Haiti’s Justice Ministry and the government’s anti-corruption unit. Badio, considered a prime suspect, was arrested in October 2023. He limped out of the hearing, supported by Kessa. Details of his health were not released.
In the past, lawyers for the Colombians had denounced the deplorable conditions of detention at the national prison, where inmates lacked food and water. However, the Colombians present at the hearing appeared to be in good health. In December, the Colombian consulate in Port-au-Prince confirmed that the suspects were now in an undisclosed location, enjoying “much more dignified and favorable” conditions of detention.
While the case of the suspects detained in Haiti remains stalled, U.S. authorities have prosecuted and convicted several other individuals involved in the assassination. In December 2023, a judge in Miami sentenced former Haitian Senator John Joel Joseph to life in prison for conspiring to murder Moïse. The murder plunged Haiti into a political crisis.
Other life sentences were handed down to Colombian army officer Germán Alejandro Rivera García, Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar, and former U.S. government informant Joseph Vincent.
Translated by CHIP editors
Posted Jan. 16, 2025