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Shot by a killer squad: Jovenel Moïse
Photo: JEAN MARC HERVE ABELARD / EPA
Four weeks after the assassination of the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, the legal clarification of the case appears to have stalled.
According to information from the judiciary, the country's chief judge has great difficulties in finding an investigative judge.
The lawyers who come into question are therefore afraid.
"This is a sensitive and political case," an investigating judge, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the AFP news agency.
"Every judge thinks about his own safety and that of his family before he takes on the investigation." He and his colleagues are therefore "not exactly thrilled to take on the case."
Appeal to the government
In order to reassure the investigating judges, the Chief Justice Bernard Saint-Vil has, according to his own statements, asked the government to guarantee the protection of the lawyers.
He also asked for more security personnel.
"These resources should be available before a judge is entrusted with the case," he said.
Saint-Vil had announced that he would announce the name of the investigating judge responsible on Thursday.
But that didn't happen.
Head of state Moïse was shot dead by a murder squad in his home in the capital Port-au-Prince on the night of July 7th.
The police say they have already arrested 44 people in connection with the attack.
These include twelve Haitian police officers, 18 Colombians and two US citizens of Haitian origin.
The National Police are looking for other suspects, including a Supreme Court judge, a former senator and a businessman.
The Port-au-Prince public prosecutor's office also issued arrest warrants for the leader of an opposition party, the leader of Moïse's party and two Haitian pastors who had publicly criticized Moïse.
The murder plunged the Caribbean state, which was already marked by instability and great poverty, into an even deeper crisis.
Moïse had last ruled Haiti by decree.
A parliamentary election planned for 2018 had been postponed.
sms / AFP