On video: unknown persons shot dead the president of Haiti at his residence/photo: Reuters
The widow of Haiti's last president, Juvenal Moise, is accused of plotting his assassination in 2021 with the aim of replacing him herself - according to the investigation into the dramatic assassination, which is led by a local judge, in another dramatic development in the case that has left the impoverished Caribbean island nation in complete chaos.
According to a 122-page document leaked to local media, Judge Walter Wasser Voltaire filed charges against about 50 people, including Martine Moise, the president's widow, alleging that she conspired with former prime minister Claude Joseph to assassinate the president.
Another main defendant is former police chief Leon Charles, who currently serves as Haiti's representative to the Organization of American States.
He is facing the most serious charges, including murder and attempted murder, and illegal possession and carrying of weapons.
Claims that she is a victim of political persecution.
Martin Moise/Reuters
The assassination happened on the night of July 7, 2021, when gunmen broke into his bedroom at his residence in the capital Port-au-Prince, in a raid in which the first lady was also injured.
After two and a half years, she became a defendant and the judge issued an arrest warrant for her and the others involved in order to prosecute them.
Moise wrote on social networks that these are unjust arrests and political persecution.
At the same time, Joseph told the "Miami Herald" newspaper that the president's de facto successor, current Prime Minister Ariel Henry, is the main beneficiary.
According to him, he is using the judicial system to persecute his opponents in a "classic coup".
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said that the judge is an independent entity, "free to publish his ruling in accordance with the law and his conscience."
Juvenal and Martin Moise/Reuters
Henry was appointed in place of Joseph, who is currently in an opposition party, days before the assassination of the president.
He promised to hold elections, but these were postponed until further notice.
This, according to him, is due to a devastating earthquake that struck the island and the takeover of parts of the capital by armed gangs.
The last elections in Haiti were held in 2016, and the term of the last senators ended in January of last year.
An international force led by Kenya, which received a mandate from the UN Security Council, is to be deployed in Haiti to support the local police, at Henry's request. However, exploitative acts of previous international missions and criticism of Henry's government have caused doubts among various countries about the success of the new force.
The government is asking for international assistance to deal with the gangs.
Protests in Haiti, last month/Reuters
The Moise assassination is also being investigated in the United States, and six of the 11 defendants have confessed to plotting to send Colombian mercenaries to kidnap the president - a plan that was changed at the last minute to a plot to kill him.
According to the charges in the United States, the conspirators planned to replace Moises with the priest Christian Emmanuel Sanon, who also holds American citizenship.
On the 10th of the month, a court in Miami sentenced a former informant for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who was one of the defendants in the case, to life imprisonment.
On the same day, a UN report noted that last January was the deadliest in two years, with more than 1,100 killed, injured or kidnapped. A few days earlier, anti-government protests erupted following Henry's promise to resign on February 7, but He withdrew on the grounds that security must be restored in order to hold free and fair elections.
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