Ex-Haitian senator suspected of Moise’s murder arrives extradited to Miami

the former senator Haitian John Joel Joseph appeared this Monday before a judge in Miami (Florida, USA) after being extradited from Jamaica to answer about his alleged involvement in the assassination of the president of Haiti Jovenel Moise in July 2021.

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Judge Lauren Louis decided that Joseph, 51, remain in prison until the next hearing, which will take place later this month.

The Florida Southern District Attorney’s Office argued that there is a flight risk for Joseph.

In a statement released today, the public ministry indicated that Joseph arrived in Miami last Friday and is accused of conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States.

Also, he added, he is accused of “providing material support that resulted in the death (of the President of Haiti), knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap.”

With this former senator, there are three allegedly implicated in the murder of Moise who are already in the hands of the American justice system.

The other two are Rodolphe Jaar, 49, a Chilean nationalized Haitian who was arrested last January in the Dominican Republic and traveled to Miami of his own free will, and former Colombian soldier Mario Antonio Palacios, 43, who also arrived in the United States. UU voluntarily after being detained at an air stopover in Panama.

On January 15, the Jamaican Police arrested the former Haitian senator, who was claimed as one of the suspects in the assassination of President Moise, perpetrated on July 7, 2021.

Joseph, a member of Moise’s political opposition, fled Haiti with his family after the murder and was found by Jamaican police in a rural community where they had been living incognito.

According to the US Attorney’s Office, on April 28, the Jamaican justice authorized the extradition to the US of the former senator, who is accused of having rented four vehicles that were used for the attack against President Moise.

As alleged in the formal complaint, released today, Joseph was present when an accomplice (“Co-Conspirator #1”) “obtained the signature of a former Haitian judge on a written request for assistance in further arrest.” and imprisonment of President Moise, in addition to purporting to provide Haitian immunity for such actions.”

According to the complaint, on June 28, 2021, “Co-conspirator #1,” a dual Haitian-American citizen, traveled from Haiti to the United States to promote the conspiracy and gave the aforementioned document to other people.

He then flew from Florida back to Haiti on July 1, 2021, “to participate in the operation against the president.”

“Although the plot initially focused on carrying out a kidnapping of the Haitian president (…), it finally resulted in a plot to kill the president,” adds the Prosecutor’s Office.

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“Co-conspirator #1” was arrested by authorities in Haiti, where he remains in custody, the statement details.

If convicted of the charges against him, Joseph faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

In addition to Joseph, Palacios, who faces two charges in the United States, and Jaar, who has a previous conviction for drug trafficking in his criminal record, businessman Samir Handal was arrested in Turkey last November, who is still in that country and is also accused. of participating in the conspiracy to kill Moise.

Until now, four judges have been in charge of the open case in Haiti for the assassination of President Moise, for which dozens of people are in prison, including the alleged intellectual author, the doctor Emmanuel Sanon, without any progress being reported in the investigation.

Moise was assassinated in his home in Port-au-Prince by an armed command made up of 48 people, including 18 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian origin, who were arrested.

The Haitian Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, even requested the help of the United Nations in the investigation of the assassination.

Source: Elcomercio

Deshawn