Judges probing Haiti’s 2021 presidential assassination grill a former prime minister

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Claude Joseph, who was Haiti’s acting prime minister when President Jovenel Moïse was gunned down in July 2021, came under fire Wednesday as judges investigating the killing questioned suspects in the case.

It was the first time Joseph testified since attorneys for some suspects successfully appealed a court ruling that there was sufficient evidence to hold a trial. Since then, many questions have remained unanswered despite a new investigation.

Joseph and Moïse’s widow, Martine Moïse, were indicted last year after a judge accused them of complicity and criminal association. Both have repeatedly denied those accusations.

Joseph on Wednesday called the judge’s report that indicted him “political, unfair and flawed.”

He said it was a tactic used to “neutralize” him because he organized demonstrations across Haiti against Ariel Henry, whom Joseph said was illegally sworn in as prime minister less than two weeks after the president was killed.

At the time of his killing, Moïse had only nominated Henry as prime minister.

Joseph noted that he didn’t make a grab for power after the assassination.

“I said that everything was under the control of the National Police and the Haitian Armed Forces. Not under the control of the acting prime minister that I was then,” he said.

‘I was unaware of the plot’

Judge Emmanuel Lacroix grilled Joseph for several hours on Wednesday, repeatedly asking how it was possible he did not know about the plot as prime minister, since that position officially presides over Haiti’s National Police High Council.

“Like the victimized president, I was unaware of the plot,” said Joseph, who remained calm during an hours-long interrogation as he faced pointed questions from several judges.

Joseph said funds for intelligence operations at the offices of the president and prime minister are less than the $20 million it cost to kill Moïse.

“I must admit that no matter what means the prime minister had at his disposal to carry out its support work, it could not have saved the president’s life,” Joseph said.

Lacroix also pressed Joseph about why he didn’t call the president when he first heard something had happened at Moïse’s private residence.

“I let the police do their work,” he said. “They were already on it.”

Joseph also denied knowing Haitian-Americans James Solages, a key suspect, and Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a pastor, doctor and failed businessman who envisioned himself as Haiti’s new leader and thought that Jovenel Moïse was only going to be arrested. Both are awaiting trial in U.S. federal court, where Martine Moïse, who was injured in the attack, is expected to testify.

Judges in Haiti have called on Martine Moïse to fly to the troubled Caribbean country and also testify, but she isn’t expected to do so.

The former chief of Haiti’s National Police, Léon Charles, also was ordered to appear, but it’s unclear if he will fly to Haiti to do so. He faces the most serious charges, including murder, which he has denied.

‘Rather curious’

Last year, The Associated Press obtained a report in which a judge investigating the case stated that the former secretary general of Haiti’s National Palace told authorities that he received “strong pressure” from Martine Moïse to put the president’s office at Joseph’s disposal so he could organize a council of ministers. Her attorneys have denied the accusations.

On Wednesday, Joseph said he was “shocked” by Jovenel Moïse’s killing.

“Everyone, including myself, finds it rather curious that a head of state was assassinated in his home without any reaction from his guards,” he said. “All this clearly demonstrates the degree of complexity of the plot.”

None of Moïse’s guards were injured in the attack.

Joseph urged the judges to focus on the money used to finance the attack: “Analyze the distribution channels and hopefully identify the masterminds of the crime.”

Of the more than 50 suspects in the case, 20 of them are being held in Haiti, including 17 former Colombian soldiers. Five other suspects are awaiting trial in the U.S., whose government extradited 11 suspects overall. Five of those have already pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Moïse.

___

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

____

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america