2023-12-20 02:05:00
A former senator from Haiti was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States for the assassination of the President (REUTERS)
The United States Justice sentenced a former Haitian senator to life imprisonment accused of conspiring with other criminals to assassinate then-president Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021.
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Joseph Joel John, 52, was one of Moise’s political rivals and was extradited from Jamaica. He appeared this Tuesday in a federal court in Miami, where his trial took place, dressed in a brown uniform and handcuffed. There, before hearing his sentence, he explained to the magistrates that his intention was never to end the president’s life but that he only wanted to take him before the local Justice for his mismanagement at the head of the country. However, he added, the rest of the gang decided to change plans and kill him, to which he might not back out for fear of dying.
“Magistrate, have mercy on me,” he told Judge José Martínez and then asked for forgiveness from Moise’s loved ones and the Haitian people for having committed a “hateful crime that should never have happened.”
John had already pleaded guilty to having provided vehicles and other resources that facilitated the assassination and apologized for having committed a “hateful crime that should never have happened” (REUTERS)
Prior to this meeting, in October, John had already pleaded guilty to having provided vehicles and other resources that facilitated the assassination. He also acknowledged having met on repeated occasions – both on the Island and in South Florida – with the rest of the criminals who participated in the episode.
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These meetings were what, coincidentally, allowed the US Justice Department to claim jurisdiction over the case and order the arrest and indictment of – so far – 11 people. On the contrary, in Haiti 17 suspects were arrested but none of them have yet been formally charged, indicates The Miami Herald.
Thus, John is already the third convicted in the United States for this crime that shocked the island and left it even more immersed in a serious social, political and economic crisis. Prior to this Tuesday’s sentencing, Rodolphe Jaar, a Haitian-Chilean businessman, and Germán Rivera, a retired Colombian Army officer, had been sentenced before Justice. Both received life sentences this year.
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More than two years following the assassination occurred, the Police continue to investigate the events of that July 7 in which a command of Colombian mercenaries – as might be determined so far – entered Moise’s private residence in the Puerto neighborhood Prince and ended his life. His custody might not prevent the crime.
Rodolphe Jaar, Haitian-Chilean businessman, is one of those sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime
The investigation carried out by US prosecutors determined that the plan was devised by the directors of a Miami security company and involved the kidnapping of the president in order to replace him with someone more related to them. Thus, the two men identified as Antonio Intriago – Venezuelan – and Arcángel Pretel Ortiz – Colombian – sought to put Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a 64-year-old Haitian-American citizen, in office, in order to benefit from his proximity by signing irregular contracts. with his future government.
Sanon also faces a process before the US Justice.
Christian Emmanuel Sanon, who was going to assume the presidency following the kidnapping, also faces a trial before the United States Justice
However, by not being able to kidnap Moise, the situation would have been precipitated and the criminals decided to murder him.
Since then, the island has been immersed in a wave of violence and clashes between armed gangs that led to new elections never being held and the presidency remaining vacant.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Henry is working to restore order on the island – promoting an international coalition force to intervene in the country and put an end to the mafias of these groups – as well as to recover the economy and constitutional order.
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