Former Haitian President Moise’s Widow Formally Charged with Complicity in his Assassination

The Haitian justice system formally accused the widow of the country’s former president, Jovenel Moise, of complicity in the assassination of her husband. Yesterday, February 19. Martine Moise was charged along with 50 other people from her entourage, including former Prime Minister Claude Joseph and police chief Leon Charles. In this way, the case has taken a turn in which the conspiracy to end the life of the president has become more complex.

The Haitian judge who has been investigating the case since 2021, when a group of assassins assassinated the president of the country in his residence, has linked the case to a formal accusation against the president’s ex-wife, who was wounded in the attack. Martine Moise was recently called to testify, without formal accusation, in relation to this case.

Leon Charles is today the permanent representative of Haiti to the Organization of American States (OAS), and faces the most serious charges: homicide; attempted homicide; illegal possession and carrying of weapons; criminal association against the internal security of the state, and association with criminals. Martine Moise and Claude Joseph are accused of complicity and criminal association.

Finally accused

Martine Moise has been under suspicion since the end of January, when it became known that the Haitian justice system had issued an arrest warrant against her in October 2023 for not showing up to testify. At that time she was not directly accused, but the lack of collaboration of the former first lady and the insistence of the judge pointed towards the result that was confirmed yesterday.

“There are concordant charges and sufficient evidence to justify their responsibility in the facts with which they are charged,” according to the magistrate, who refers them “to the Criminal Court, convened without the assistance of a jury, to be tried for the facts of association to commit a crime, armed robbery, terrorism, murder and complicity in murder, crimes committed to the detriment of Jovenel Moise,” states the judicial document.

The direct accusations against the widow of the former Haitian president are based on her declarations which “are so riddled with contradictions that they leave much to be desired and discredit her,” according to the court order.

Judge Voltaire’s investigation

Yesterday, February 19, the investigation by Judge Walter Wesser Voltaire came to an end. There have been more than two and a half years of investigations in which Voltaire has issued an order of 122 pages. The document was sent to the Prosecutor’s Office and it will be up to the Supreme Court of Haiti to organize the trial.

In addition to the 50 accused in the final document, 11 others had already been extradited to the United States. Of the latter, three have already been convicted. The prosecution of Florida in the United States has indicated that the death of President Moise was a plot orchestrated in Haiti and in Florida to kidnap or assassinate the president through the action of hired assassins.

Jovenel Moise was tortured and assassinated on the night of July 7, 2021 in his private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince. Since then, the power vacuum and the struggle for power has plunged the country into violence, with clashes in the streets between different criminal gangs. A few days ago, there were also protest marches demanding the resignation of the current Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, and the calling of elections, which legally should have been done on February 7.

Christian Emmanuel Sanon, intellectual author

The indictment of the Haitian judge affirms that, together with former Justice official Joseph Felix Badio, the “intellectual author” of the assassination was pastor Christian Emmanuel Sanon, who was recently indicted by the Florida court on the charge of conspiracy to kidnap and kill Jovenel Moise.

Sanon is a Haitian-American who was extradited in 2023 from Haiti to the U.S., where the plot to overthrow Moise was allegedly planned between February and July 2021. The crime was carried out by a group of mercenaries, mostly Colombian ex-military.

In addition to being a pastor, Sanon, now 66 years old, had shown political aspirations in his country in the last decade. When he was incriminated, three years ago, Haitian media highlighted that the politician had published videos in 2011 on social networks, presenting himself as the leader Haiti needed, “capable of managing uranium, oil and other wealth of the country that had done little to improve the economy and welfare due to corruption and mismanagement.”

Little is known about this man who was born in Haiti but is a U.S. citizen and lived in Brandon, near Tampa, Florida, USA. Although he calls himself a doctor, it has not been possible to prove that he is qualified to practice medicine.