Haitian Prosecutor’s Office summons Prime Minister to testify in Moise assassination case

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Prosecutor’s Office of Port-au-Prince sent this Friday (10) an invitation to the Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, to testify in the investigation of the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, committed last July 7.

Henry, the highest authority of the country at the moment, was invited to testify next Tuesday, September 14, according to the letter signed by the prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude.

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In the missive, the prosecutor states that “it is confirmed” that Henry exchanged two phone calls with one of the main suspects in the murder, Joseph Felix Badio, at 4.20 and 4.30 in the morning of July 7, about three hours after the murder.

“The geolocation of these biased calls deserve to be clarified, they establish without equivocation that the fugitive Badio was at the time of the conversation at Pélerin 5, the place of the victim’s residence and the perpetration of this crime,” says the prosecutor.

Henry was appointed prime minister by Moise on July 5 but did not take office until July 20, when his predecessor, Claude Joseph, left office.

Badio, a former official in Haiti’s Justice Ministry, is suspected of being the person who coordinated the operation on the ground and liaised with the Colombian mercenary commando who attacked Moise’s residence.

The Haitian police have announced a reward of US$60,000 for anyone offering information leading to the arrest of Badio or two other suspects suspected of having planned the assassination, former judge Windelle Coq Thélot and former senator John Joel Joseph.

The assassination case is in the hands of examining magistrate Garry Orélien, who last week held the first hearing, during which he questioned Moise’s security coordinator, Jean Laguel Civil, at the Palace of Justice in Port-au-Prince.

According to Haitian authorities, 44 people are in custody, including 18 Colombians and 12 police officers who were part of Moise’s security corps, which did not react to the attack.