Connect with us

Foreign

Wife of Haiti’s assassinated president indicted in his killing

Published

on

A judge in Haiti investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse indicted his widow, Martine Moïse, ex-prime minister Claude Joseph and the former chief of Haiti’s National Police, Léon Charles, among others in his killing.

Dozens of suspects were indicted in the 122-page report issued by Walther Wesser Voltaire, who is the fifth judge to lead the investigation after previous ones stepped down for various reasons, including fear of being killed.

Charles, who was police chief when Moïse was killed and now serves as Haiti’s permanent representative to the Organization of the American States, faces the most serious charges: murder; attempted murder; possession and illegal carrying of weapons; conspiracy against the internal security of the state; and criminal association.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Martine Moïse, who was injured in the attack, are accused of complicity and criminal association.

Advertisement

Joseph, the former prime minister, shared a statement with The Associated Press accusing Henry of “undermining” the investigation and benefitting from the president’s death.

“Henry … is weaponizing the Haitian justice system, prosecuting political opponents like me. It’s a classic coup d’état,” Joseph said. “They failed to kill me and Martine Moïse on July 7th 2021, now they are using the Haitian justice system to advance their Machiavellian agenda.”

Joseph again called on Henry to resign and noted that while he was still prime minister, he invited the FBI to help local authorities investigate the killing and wrote the U.N. and OAS for help.

“I won’t stop my fight. Justice must be served,” he said.

Advertisement

In his report, the judge noted that the former secretary general of the National Palace, Lyonel Valbrun, told authorities that he received “strong pressure” from Martine Moïse to put the president’s office at the disposal of Joseph because he needed it to “organize a council of ministers.”

Valbrun also said that two days before her husband was killed, Martine Moïse visited the National Palace and spent nearly five hours, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., removing “a bunch of things.”

He said that two days after Jovenel Moïse was slain, Martine Moïse called to tell him that, “Jovenel didn’t do anything for us. You have to open the office. The president told Ti Klod to create a council of ministers; he will hold elections in three months so I can become president, now we will have power.”

While the document did not identify Ti Klod, the former prime minister, Claude Joseph, is known by that name.

Advertisement

The judge also stated in his report that Martine Moïse “suggested” she took refuge under the marital bed to protect herself from the attackers, but he noted that authorities at the scene found that not “even a giant rat…whose size measures between 35 and 45 centimeters” could fit under the bed.

The judge said the former first lady’s statements were “so tainted with contradictions that they leave something to be desired and discredit her.”

Others who face charges including murder are Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-American pastor who visualized himself as Haiti’s next president and said he thought Moïse was only going to be arrested; Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American and former informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Dimitri Hérard, presidential security chief; John Joël Joseph, a former Haitian senator; and Windelle Coq, a Haitian judge whom authorities say is a fugitive.

Sanon, Vincent, and Joseph were extradited to the U.S., where a total of 11 suspects face federal charges in the slaying of Haiti’s president. At least three of them already have been sentenced.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, more than 40 suspects are languishing in prison in Haiti awaiting trial, although it was not immediately clear how quickly one would be held following Monday’s indictments. Among them are 20 former Colombian soldiers.

Milena Carmona, wife of Jheyner Alberto Carmona Flórez, told The Associated Press that he is innocent.

“What’s happening is that this crime is a conspiracy of great magnitudes in which powerful people are behind the scenes running everything, and that’s why they’re not given freedom,” she said of the former soldiers.

U.S. prosecutors have described it as a plot hatched in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse, who was 53 when he was slain at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

Advertisement

The attack began late July 6 and ended July 7, according to witnesses.

Martine Moïse and others who were interrogated said they heard heavy gunfire starting around 1 a.m. that lasted between 30 to to 45 minutes before armed men burst into the bedroom of the presidential couple.

Moïse said she was lying on the ground when she heard the attackers yell, “That’s not it! That’s not it! That’s not it!”

She said the suspects made a video call to identify the exact location of what they were searching as they killed the president. She added that she was face down when the suspects tilted her head and tugged on one of her toes “to ensure that she wasn’t alive.”

Advertisement

Once they left, Moïse said she dragged herself on the ground and whispered to her husband that she was going to try and go to the hospital.

“That’s when she noticed that the president was dead and that his left eye had been removed from the socket,” the report stated.

Moïse said a group of about 30 to 50 police officers were supposed to guard the presidential residence, but the judge noted that only a handful of officers were present that night.

One officer told the judge that he heard explosions and a voice through a megaphone saying, “Do not shoot! It’s a DEA operation! US Army! We know how many officers are inside. Exit with two hands lowered.”

Advertisement

Another officer said the head of security of the first lady found her “in critical condition” surrounded by her two children. He said he also saw an undetermined number of people coming out of the president’s residence “with briefcases and several envelopes in their possession.”

The report quotes Inspector General André Vladimir Paraison saying that the president called him at 1:46 a.m. and told him, “Paraison! Man, hurry up! I’m in trouble! Come quickly and save my life.” He said he encountered heavily armed men and couldn’t access the residence immediately.

Officers at the scene said they found cars, windows, and doors at the president’s private home riddled with bullet holes, along with surveillance cameras cut off and a broken lock on the double-wooden door leading to the presidential bedroom.

The judge said some police officers at the residence were disarmed and handcuffed, while others “had time to throw themselves down a ravine” for safety. In addition, the police officer overseeing presidential security was accused of receiving $80,000 to bribe certain officers “to remain inactive” during the assassination, according to the report.

Advertisement

The judge noted how “none of the police providing security to the head of state was in danger. Unfortunately, the head of state was assassinated with ease.”

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Foreign

Journalists rally against White House’s decision to modify allocation of seats in briefing room

Published

on

By

The White House said Monday it is “seriously considering” taking control of deciding which journalists get seats in the famed briefing room, in the latest bid by President Donald Trump’s administration to exert power over the media.

The 49 spots in the press room, where spokespeople, officials and occasionally the president take the podium, have long been allocated by the non-partisan group of independent journalists, the White House Correspondents Association.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the WHCA of trying to maintain a “monetized monopoly over the briefing room.”

“As for switching up seating in the briefing room, it’s something we are seriously considering,” she told Fox News.

Advertisement

“The briefing room is part of the People’s House, it belongs to the American people. It does not belong to elitist journalists here in Washington DC.”

News outlet Axios reported earlier that the White House wanted to take control of the seating chart to give more prime front-of-room spots to new media, and move some legacy outlets further back.

The WHCA, of which AFP is a member, opposed the “wrong-headed” move.

“The reason the White House wants control of the briefing room is the same reason they took control of the pool: to exert pressure on journalists over coverage they disagree with,” WHCA President Eugene Daniels said in a statement.

Advertisement

The WHCA and the White House both said they had tried to broker a meeting on the issue.

It is the latest effort by the White House to shape who covers Trump after taking control from the WHCA in February of the “pool” that covers the president in the Oval Office and when he travels on Air Force One.

The White House has added access to the pool for new and in several cases openly pro-Trump media, while reducing access to mainstream organisations.

It also continues to bar the Associated Press news agency from almost all presidential events as it refuses to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” the name newly decreed by Trump.

Advertisement

AFP

Continue Reading

Foreign

Ghana: Govt cancels sale of diplomatic properties in Nigeria, Zambia

Published

on

By

The Ghanaian government has canceled two transactions initiated by the previous administration under the leadership of former president Nana Akufo-Addo to sell Ghanaian diplomatic properties in Nigeria and Zambia.

“Yesterday I informed Parliament that with the full backing of President Mahama, we have cancelled two transactions initiated by the previous Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government to sell Ghanaian diplomatic properties in Nigeria and Zambia.” Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced on his X.

According to the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, the current administration is determined to retrieve an illegal part payment in one of the transactions.

Adding that those who are involved in these illegal transactions will be sanctioned.

Advertisement

“Determined efforts are underway to retrieve an illegal part payment in one of the transactions. The masterminds, who are currently on the run will surely be found and sanctioned.” He added.

He said the NDC government is committed to their promise that no diplomatic property belonging to the people of Ghana would be sold under President John Dramani Mahama administration.

Hon. Ablakwa warned that none of our diplomatic properties either in Ghana or any of our 71 diplomatic missions abroad are available for sale.

“We mean it when we say no diplomatic property belonging to the people of Ghana would be sold under our watch. Notice is hereby served that none of our diplomatic properties either in Ghana or any of our 71 diplomatic missions abroad are available for sale — hands off!” He stated.

Advertisement

According to him, they will use the principles of Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) to protect properties belonging to the state as well as the public purse.

“The principles of ORAL, strict abhorrence for State Capture and the national interest shall continue to guide our decisions. For God and Country.” Ablakwa assured.

Source: Elvisanokyenews.net

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Foreign

Namibia to enforce visa requirement on U.S citizens

Published

on

By

Namibia has imposed visa requirements on U.S. citizen tourists starting from April 1, 2025.

According to the Namibian Government, U.S. citizen tourists who wish to visit the Southern African country should obtain a visa before entering the country.

The U.S Embassy in Namibia posted that US visitors are required to apply for a visa through Namibia’s online visa on arrival portal: https://eservices.mhaiss.gov.na/visaonarrival.

“Beginning April 1, 2025, the Namibian Government will require U.S. citizen tourists to obtain a visa prior to entering the country. Visitors are recommended to apply for their visa in advance of planned travel through Namibia’s online visa on arrival portal: https://eservices.mhaiss.gov.na/visaonarrival. Visitors using this online visa application system must carry a hard copy of their approval notice when they travel.” The Embassy posted.

Advertisement

The Namibian Government added that visitors arriving in Windhoek, Walvis Bay, Katima Mulilo, Ngoma will also have the option of purchasing a tourist visa upon arrival at the respective airport or border crossing point.

“Visitors arriving in Windhoek, Walvis Bay, or entering at high volume border crossing points (e.g., Katima Mulilo, Ngoma) will also have the option of purchasing a tourist visa upon arrival at the respective airport or border crossing point. Namibia’s visa on arrival system is new and implementation details are subject to change.” They added.

The decision by the Namibian government to impose visa requirements on US citizens has met mixed reactions on social media.

While others are commending the government, others have also raised concerns about the negative impact on the Namibia economy as tourism contributes higher income to the government.

Advertisement

Some political actors believe Namibian female President, H.E. Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah took the decision to reciprocate the US government visa restrictions and some Western countries who have denied visa free entry to Namibians.

Source: Elvisanokyenews.net

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Naija Blitz News