Haitian Prime Minister Involved In President’s Assassination, Judge And Investigators Say
The assassination of Haiti’s former president, Jovenel Moïse involved the nation’s current Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, investigators and a judge are alleging.
According to CNN, Haitian authorities said former Haitian anti-corruption official Joseph Felix Badio was in charge of the group of more than two dozen men who carried out the shooting.
Moïse was assassinated last July when gunmen invaded his home in the middle of the night and shot him a dozen times. His wife, Martine Moïse, was also shot in the attack but survived.
CNN reports that Badio, who was then on the run, was set to meet with Henry in September. By that time, the pair had already met twice in person since Moïse’s death. Investigators had suspected for weeks that Henry was involved in the assasination so they hoped that an upcoming meeting would help connect the prime minister to the crime.
Word of that meeting, however, and planned raid leaked so it ultimately did not take place.
"Henry is at the center of everything," an investigator told CNN. "All he has done since taking over as PM is obstruct (the investigation) and f**k us over."
Unidentified law enforcement sources told the network that Henry was allegedly involved in both planning and covering up the assassination. Additionally, Judge Garry Orélien, who was overseeing the case until recently, made similar accusations in fall 2021.
"Ariel (Henry) is connected and friends with the mastermind of the assassination,” Orélien said in the recording obtained by CNN. “They planned it with him. Ariel is a prime suspect of Jovenel Moïse's assassination, and he knows it.”
Since the assasination, Henry has promised to seek justice for Moïse, however none of the more than 40 suspects detained in Haiti have yet been formally charged.