A judge investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in Haiti has issued a final report indicting several individuals, including Moïse's widow, Martine Moïse, ex-prime minister Claude Joseph, and former chief of Haiti’s National Police, Léon Charles.
Charles, who currently serves as Haiti’s permanent representative to the Organization of American States, faces serious charges including murder, attempted murder, possession and illegal carrying of weapons, conspiracy against the internal security of the State, and association of criminals.
Martine Moïse and Joseph are accused of complicity and criminal association in the report.
The judge's findings are expected to further destabilize Haiti, a country already grappling with a surge in gang violence and recent violent protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The 122-page report released Monday indicted nearly 50 suspects in connection with the assassination. Additionally, 11 suspects have been extradited to the U.S. and charged in the slaying, with three already sentenced.
U.S. prosecutors have characterized the assassination as a plot devised in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse, who was killed at his private residence near Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021.
